A Flaw In Our Chemistry
by TheWolfWithinMe
Summary: 'You put two people alone together for a certain length of time, and they'll either kill each other or fall in love.' - Unknown. Damon has left, leaving Bonnie and Kai with only each other for company. Can she forgive him? Can he trust her? Can Damon find a way to bring them back and will it be too late when he does? [Kai/Bonnie.] Cover image not mine.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: Not sure if this will be a romance pairing or if they'll kill each other. Guess we'll find out soon.**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing except the idea that is bouncing around in my head.**

**Enjoy.**

* * *

The light faded. The eclipse passed.

And Bonnie was left behind. Again.

'Damon...'

He was gone, he had made it. Hopefully by now he would be reunited with his brother, and Elena and everyone else that had surely missed him.

Hopefully he would be looking for a way to bring her back.

Bonnie had to hope, it was all she had left. Her last anchor to normality had just whooshed away in a flash of white light, breaking the ascendant into a dozen little pieces on his way out.

She lowered her gaze to the ruined device and groaned, silently wondering if there was any way to fix it again.

'Thanks _a lot.'_

Her head snapped her and she locked eyes with the reason for her failure to leave this Hell.

Kai.

She had forgotten all about him, managed to push him into the smallest corner of her mind, the only reminder of his existence being the large gaping hole in her chest, which was currently seeping blood like there was no tomorrow. Which in a way, there wasn't.

Pretending that his voice was merely an annoying side effect of being shot, Bonnie slowly pushed herself to her feet, swaying slightly as she struggled to regain some sort of balance.

Since when were there two Kai's?

'You have a twin? Why didn't you tell me?' She slurred, the hand on her chest drenched in her own blood.

'What?'

Again, she ignored him, a delirious laugh escaping her lips. 'This really is Hell, and I'm stuck here with _you.'_

She laughed once again and dropped to the floor, promptly blacking out.

* * *

When Bonnie woke up again she wasn't in the caverns, she wasn't even in pain any more. All she felt was warmth. Warmth and familiarity.

Maybe everything had just been one big nightmare.

She squinted at the room around her, taking everything in. It was still the boarding house, but it wasn't the room she was staying in when Damon had been here. This one was clean; there were none of her clothes lying around on the floor or any empty plates littering the night stand.

The question of how she got here popped into her mind at exactly the same time as the door opened, revealing the answer.

'Morning sleepyhead, thought I lost you there.'

Bonnie blinked, confused, before quickly placing one hand over her chest. The wound was no longer bleeding, in fact it had healed completely, leaving behind only a faint scar.

'What did you do?' She asked, staring at him with wide eyes. 'You can't do magic, you said so yourself.'

He shook his head. 'I can't, no. But I can steal it, remember? I just used your own magic to heal you.' He paced around the room, wearing jeans instead of shorts today. 'You've been unconscious for three days though, I thought I killed you.'

'And that's a bad thing?'

Kai spun around to face her again, his brows furrowed in that childlike way of his. 'As much as I want to kill you for attempting to kill me, I can't let that happen. See, this is a prison for me. I can't leave, no matter how many times I try and end myself. But you-' He took a step closer, '-you may be able to escape if you die.'

He laughed, running one hand through his short hair, 'I can't afford to let you leave. Sorry.'

Bonnie pushed herself into a sitting position and scowled, 'You're keeping me here just so that you don't get lonely?'

'Pretty much, and because I may want to kill you myself in the near future.' Flashing an angelic smile her way, he sauntered out of the room again, whistling a happy tune under his breath.

* * *

Bonnie stayed in bed for most of the day, mainly to avoid Kai and his unpredictable ways. It was nice and peaceful here, and for once she could freely think without Damon yammering on and on about stuff that she didn't care about. However she didn't like or trust Kai being out of view, the psychopath could be plotting anything downstairs, and with Damon gone, she couldn't do much about it. So, instead of avoiding him for the entire evening as well, she pushed back the covers, slipped on a dressing gown and padded downstairs.

The living room was empty, as was the kitchen.

'Maybe he's left.' She murmured to herself, grabbing a glass and pouring out some juice.

'No such luck, sorry.'

Spinning around and nearly dropping her glass in the process, Bonnie came face to face with an extremely smug looking Kai. He was holding a bag in one hand and she could just make out the words 'pork rinds' on one of the items inside.

'Aren't you sick of those things by now?' She growled, putting as much distance between her and him as possible. Something about him creeped her out and she didn't want to be any closer than necessary.

'You can never be bored of pork rinds.' He replied, pulling out three bagfuls of the things and placing them in a cupboard.

'Just make yourself at home,' She muttered, watching him closely.

'Oh, I will. Thanks.' He shot her a grin and strode off towards the couch, throwing himself onto it and sprawling out like a lazy cat.

'Can you fetch me a drink please, BonBon? You did say for me to make myself at home, after all.'

Bonnie growled and stalked over to where Kai was laying, one arm behind his head. 'Okay, first of all, don't call me BonBon, only Damon can do that. Secondly, I'm not your maid or slave, no matter what you may think. And thirdly, I'm going to find another way out of here, so I never have to see your annoyingly smug face again. Okay? Okay.'

Kai blinked. 'So that's no to a drink then?'

Clenching and unclenching her fists, Bonnie turned tail and stomped out of the room before she attempted to kill the nutjob for a second time.


	2. Chapter 2

**A/n: To the reviewer that said about Bamon, I also shipped them hard until Kai came onto the scene and now I like Kannie instead. Heh. They have undeniable chemistry and Bonnie deserves to get with a hot guy. Ahem.**

**Anyway.**

**Enjoy.**

**Disclaimer: I still own nothing. :(**

* * *

Bonnie didn't kill Kai that night, or the night after that. In fact, she barely saw him over the past week or so. The sociopath decided that he needed some 'alone time' and disappeared without saying another word.

Not that she minded.

'There has to be a way to fix this.' She murmured to herself, staring at the scattered pieces of metal lay strewn across the coffee table. She had decided to revisit the caverns a few days after Kai's disappearance to collect the broken ascendant, determined to fix it and get the Hell out of, well,... Hell.

So far though, she wasn't having much luck. The ascendant didn't seem to want to be fixed. All she managed to do was cause it to hiss, let off a cloud of black smoke or just absolutely nothing, and after five hours of pure frustration, she conceded that she may in fact need Kai's help. After all, he knew what the stupid device was and how it worked more than she did.

'Screw it.' She growled in irritation, setting down one of her Grimoire's and reaching for the mug of now cold coffee beside her. 'I'm never getting out of here. Ever.'

Peering around the empty living room, she realised just how lonely being in isolation really was. How Kai did it for eighteen years while retaining some of his sanity was a complete mystery to her, as she was about to go crazy after just a few days.

She missed Damon, she missed her friends, she missed Jeremy and most of all she missed her Grams.

'Why did you send me here?' She asked aloud, not expecting any response. 'Surely death would be better than being stuck in this limbo for eternity.'

Sniffing, she wiped one hand across her eyes, removing the moisture that had started to collect there. She couldn't cry. Not now. After everything that she had been through over the past few months, she couldn't let a little thing like loneliness bring her to her breaking point.

But loneliness sucked.

Snapping the book shut and placing it to one side, Bonnie stood up and stretched, eyes flicking towards the clock. It was nearing midnight and Kai still wasn't back.

Had he deserted her? Would he do that? Maybe after being alone for so long, he was used to it and didn't want to be around her any more now that she was no longer a one way ticket to the land of the living.

'Why does everyone leave me?' She said angrily, new tears springing to her eyes. This time she didn't bother wiping them away. Who would even see them? 'I'm tired of being the one that has to sacrifice _everything _while everyone else gets a second chance at life.'

Picking up a glass, she threw it directly at the wall in front of her, smiling in odd satisfaction as the tumbler smashed into a million little pieces of useless glass. Now if only she could do that to Kai's head.

'You _really _suck without with me, don't you?'

The voice carried a hint of smugness, but Bonnie was too relieved to hear it again to be angry. Whirling around, she turned to Kai with a semi relieved smile, her mouth twitching at one side when she saw what he was wearing.

Kai blinked and followed her gaze downwards, a small laugh of amusement leaving his lips when he realised what she was looking at.

'Do you like my shorts?'

Bonnie snorted, her eyes fixed on the bright yellow and blue pineapple pants he was wearing. Where he got them, she had no idea, but they matched his personality perfectly. Utterly insane.

'Or are you looking at what's underneath? Do you have witchy X-ray vision now or something?' He waggled a dark brow her way and was met with a scowl in return.

'Dream on, I'll never find you attractive.'

She was lying, of course. He was easy on the eyes, she couldn't deny that, but no way would those words ever leave her lips. Kai's ego was already the size of Jupiter, she wasn't going to make it any bigger.

'Where have _you_ been anyway?' she accused, deciding that it was probably best to steer the conversation to less awkward waters.

'Miami. Thought I'd take a break and catch some waves, you know?'

No. She didn't. She thought Kai wanted to be out of here even more than she did, but he was now acting like he'd completely given up and it worried her.

'Care to share your thoughts with the class? Because that stare of yours is doing bad things to me, BonBon.' He smirked, waving his hand in front of her eyes and earning himself another scowl.

'It's _Bonnie _and why have you given up?'

Kai strolled straight past her, bee lining for the pork rind cupboard and pulling out a fresh bag, 'Well, BonBon-_Bonnie_, your boyfriend broke our only way out of here when he zapped himself to safety.'

'There must be a way to fix it though, there has to be.'

Shaking his head, Kai stuffed a handful of rinds into his mouth, 'Not with any magic you'll find in there.' He motioned towards the Grimoire on the coffee table. 'It takes a special type to make that ascendant, and you, Bonnie, are not strong enough to fix it on your own.'

Bonnie felt herself slump down slightly at his words. 'Could you do it?' She asked, a hint of desperation in her voice. 'Could you take my magic and fix it?'

'Not without seriously damaging you, and if it fails, which it could, I wouldn't be able to fix you again.' He threw a rind up into the air, expertly catching it in his mouth again.

'Like you care about me.' She hissed, turning away from him.

'Oh, I don't. But you're already pretty useless, I don't want to make you even worse and end up having to look after you.'

He grunted in surprise when her hand came up and slapped him across the face, causing the bag of pork rinds to go flying everywhere.

'Now I see why you're here!' She snarled, pushing past him and stalking towards the stairs, 'You're just a monster.'

Stalking into her bedroom, she slammed the door shut before Kai could hear the sobs vibrating through her entire body. She would never let him see her break down, not now or ever.

She may have lost hope, but she still had her dignity.


	3. Chapter 3

**A bit of this chapter is from Kai's point of view because we know absolutely nothing about him, and I wanted to explore things from his side, ya know?**

**Disclaimer: None of this is mine.**

**Warnings: Some strong language. Not much though.**

**Enjoy.**

* * *

Kai watched as the witch stalked off, heard her slam the door in a 'fuck everything' sort of way and then the muffled sound of crying a few moments later.

A twinge of guilt shot through him at the noise and he hastily pushed it away, muttering angrily to himself. 'It was just a joke, she needs to lighten up.' He prowled to the liquor cabinet and pulled out one of the finer bottles of bourbon that resided there. ' She should be used to bad humour, Damon was full of it.'

Unscrewing the cap and tossing it to one side, he drained half of the contents in one go, barely coughing as the liquid burned its way down his throat. Alcohol didn't bother Kai any more. He had once tried to kill himself with alcohol poisoning and only succeeded in waking up with a Texas sized hangover. It was around that time that he realised he was in stuck in Hell permanently.

Instead of decreasing with the amount of alcohol he was consuming, the guilt merely got stronger and stronger until it had eventually pushed its way to the front of his mind again. Bonnie didn't deserve this, he knew that. _Sure_, she had tried to kill him, but no one was perfect.

He scratched the back of his head and placed the bottle down on the counter again, squinting up at the ceiling as though trying to see through the brick and plaster. The sobs had now subsided, but for all he knew she could have moved onto the anger stage of her breakdown, and he didn't particularly want to be impaled by a lamp or any other equally painful object.

'Bon-Bon?' He called out.

No answer.

'She's probably up there with a voodoo doll of me.' He muttered. 'Slowly putting pins into the eyes.'

Snatching up the bottle again, Kai decided that the answer to his problems was to be drunk when he confronted her, so instead of safely leaving the alcohol behind, he finished the entire bottle by the time he had reached her bedroom.

His confidence levels were now through the roof and he felt as though he could now own the world.

But first, Bonnie.

The booze egged him on and he knocked on the door, cooing softly. 'Bon-Bon? You can't hide from me, sexy-legs. Let me in.'

Again, no answer.

Thinking that she may be asleep, he knocked again, louder this time.

'Have you ever watched Baywatch, Boonie? You would make a good life guard. Mmm. I would... Mmm.'

The picture of Bonnie running down a beach in slow motion crept into his mind and he grinned goofily at the closed door.

'Bon-Bon, when we get out of here, please become a lifeguard. Please.' He dropped the empty bottle onto the carpet and watched as it slowly rolled away from him. 'Bonnie? Let me in. I'm sorry for being a douchenugget, I really am. Can we just kiss and make up?'

Did he say that aloud? Oops. Too late now.

The kissing comment seemed to do the trick as the door finally opened, revealing a highly pissed off looking Bonnie.

'Hey babe.' He slurred, leaning against the door frame in what he hoped was a sexy, laid back posture.

'Call me babe one more time and I swear to God, I will castrate you.'

'But, Boonie, if you did that we couldn't make cute little witch babies together.'

He didn't catch Bonnie's reply as he was suddenly sent flying across the room and into the far wall, hitting it with a soft thud. Sliding down again, he turned to see her looking just as surprised as he was.

'Wha-?' He started, breaking off when his eyes caught sight of the figure at the end of the hallway. 'No... It can't be.'

* * *

Bonnie turned at his words, her mouth dropping open in surprise. '...Grams?'

The woman stepped forward, standing under one of the lights and looking just as graceful as she did when she was alive. She ignored Kai, her eyes solely focused on Bonnie. A small smile flicked onto her lips and she opened her arms up wide, beckoning the younger witch forward.

'Did you really think I would leave you, child?'

Bonnie let out a strangled cry of disbelief and ran forward, enveloping her arms around Grams while hot, thick tears streamed down her face. 'I... I thought you left me here!'

'No, dear, I would never leave you alone.' Gram's said in a soothing manner, her hands stroking through Bonnie's hair. 'But you are here for a reason, and unfortunately... the reason is him.'

She turned to Kai, who was still semi drunk and half convinced that this was all just a hallucination.

'Me?'

'Him?'

Grams looked from one to another, a knowing smile flickering across her features as she studied them both closely. Eventually she nodded, her gaze returning to Bonnie again.

'You need to make him feel remorse for what he's done. You can't leave until you do.'

She sighed sadly, wiping the tears away from Bonnie's cheeks with her sleeve. 'You weren't meant to come here, Bonnie. You were meant to find peace, happiness, but unfortunately some things are even out of my hands. The higher powers sent you here to complete one final task.'

Bonnie stared at her, speechless for a moment.

'I... I can't.' She finally stammered, 'I loathe him. He's a psychopath, he'll never feel remorse.' She flicked a hand in Kai's direction and caused his shirt to catch fire, a cold look in her eyes.

'What are you-Aaaaaaargggghhh! Bonnie! Put it out!'

Grams sighed again and the flames instantly extinguished themselves, leaving a pissed off and slightly panting Kai laying on his back on the floor.

'Bonnie.' She continued, once again ignoring his presence. 'You have the purest heart out of anyone I've ever known. How many times have you sacrificed yourself for your friends, hm? Too many.'

She held her hand up when Bonnie looked as though she was about to interrupt, and quickly continued.

'I know you hate him, I do. But this needs to happen, otherwise this prison and their deaths would have been for nothing.'

Bonnie blinked, trying to take everything in. 'Why me though? Apart from all the pure at heart stuff, I mean.'

'You're a Bennett witch. This place was created by a Bennett witch and only another can destroy it.' She paced around the room, picking up one of the Grimoire's and studying it. 'Once he's shown proper remorse, this place will disappear and you'll finally find peace.'

'What about me?' Kai frowned, looking from Grams to Bonnie and back again. 'Do I disappear too?'

'I don't know, no one told me.' She shrugged. 'And I don't particularly care. I'm here for Bonnie, not you.'

Setting the book back down, she glanced out of the window.

'I need to go now, child, I'm not meant to be here.'

Walking towards Bonnie, she pulled her into another embrace. 'You need to do this, you do. You'll understand later.' She murmured, pressing her lips to the younger witch's forehead.

Bonnie nodded and returned the hug, unwilling to let go of the only other sane person in this dimension. 'I'll do it.' She said, forcing a smile. 'For you.'

Grams pulled away after several long moments and turned, walking back down the corridor. 'I'll see you soon, child. Stay strong.'

She rounded a corner and was gone, leaving Bonnie more confused than ever.


	4. Chapter 4

**A/n: Sorry this took so long to update. My laptop died and I wanted to watch last Thursday's episode to see which way Plec was taking her storyline. In a completely different direction to me by the looks of things. Heh.**

**I'm going to do bits from Damon's point of view as well, because he only seems to care about Elena in canon and that annoys me so much. There will be no Delena in this fic. (Sorry)**

**Anyway.**

**Enjoy. **

**P.S, Bonkai is so hot. Did you see them in the last episode? Mmf.**

* * *

Damon hit the ground hard, his face coming up close and personal to a pile of dry leaves as he did so, causing him to sneeze.

'What the...?'

Lifting his head, he peered around a vaguely familiar forest. Was he home? Was he back? Was he _alive _again? Or as alive as a vampire could be, anyway.

Another thought quickly flicked across the front of his mind. _Bonnie_.

'No. No. No. No. No.'

Springing to his feet, Damon spun around on the spot, scanning every inch of the forest floor for the witch that had recently become his best friend, but apart from a few mice scurrying through the undergrowth and a deer in the distance, the place was quiet. Too quiet for his liking.

'Bonnie!'

He clutched at his hair and tugged on the inky black ends, a million thoughts flying through his head.

'I need to get her back. I need to... Damn it, Bonnie! Why... Why would you do this?'

Brushing the dead leaves off of his clothes, Damon growled in frustration.

'Can you just be selfish for _once, _little witch.' He kicked at a tree and sighed, slumping against the trunk.

'I'm coming to get you, Bon-Bon, and I'm coming to kill _him_.'

Glancing up at the night sky, he nodded once and blurred away, disappearing into the darkness.

* * *

Bonnie sighed.

'Are we going to talk? Or are you going to continue sulking for another few hours?

Rolling up the newspaper she was reading, she swatted Kai around the head. Repeatedly. Since Grams had left a few hours ago, the psychopath had moved to the couch, curled up into a ball and fallen silent. Bonnie even thought he had died at one point, and was just about to throw a one woman victory party, when the man-child grunted and rolled over into a new position.

'Sulking sounds like the better option to me. Requires less energy and effort.' Pulling a cushion over his head, he quickly hid beneath it, attempting to shut out her voice. 'Or maybe I'm just biding my time, you know? Waiting for you to fall asleep and then I can wrap my fingers around your throat and str-Mmmfff.' He broke off at the sudden pressure over his face, flailing wildly.

Bonnie held the cushion down over his nose and mouth, hissing in irritation. 'Shut. Up. This isn't showing remorse and I don't want to be stuck here forever with _you.'_

She pulled it away a few seconds later and glared down at Kai, who was slightly breathless and red faced. 'Just feel something so that I can get the Hell out of here.'

Kai sat up and shook his head. 'No.'

'What do you mean '_no'? _Please expand on that super enlightening answer of yours.' She barely resisted the urge to throttle him herself. Barely.

'I mean _no. _No I'm not feeling sorry for what I did all those years ago, just so that you can get away from me and continue living your perfect little life while I end up going to god knows where!'

Bonnie growled. An actual growl that would have looked extremely amusing coming from her if she didn't look so pissed off and murderous right now.

'I don't give a damn about you! You're just a killer who deserves to be in Hell. A proper Hell, not this place. Because if _this_ is meant to be a prison, then it fails. Big time.'

She tossed the cushion at his head and stalked off to get herself a drink, yanking a bottle of bourbon out of the cupboard and snapping the cap off with ease. 'You've been here eighteen years and you feel _nothing. _Nothing.' Taking a huge swig of alcohol, she spun around to face him again. 'I'm going to be stuck here forever because you're a selfish, arrogant piece of sh-'

She didn't notice that Kai was stood right in front of her, almost nose to nose. She could see directly into his eyes, see the fire dancing behind the dark pupils. He was angry, that much was obvious, but there was something else as well. A flicker of emotion that she couldn't quite read. Was it hurt? Bitterness? Sadness? Whatever it was, it disappeared moments later when a cold expression took over his features.

'I can't feel remorse because I'm not sorry for killing them.' He whispered, his breath hot on her cheek.

Bonnie quivered. She should step back, regain her personal space again. But she couldn't. Something about him bothered her, made her feel uncomfortable, but at the same time, reckless. So she continued to stand her ground, her eyes boring into his.

'They deserved it.' He continued, locking his own gaze onto hers. 'They taunted me. All the damn time. Made me feel inferior, like I was nothing compared to them. It hurt.'

'They were _kids.'_ She snarled, placing one palm on his chest and roughly shoving him away from her. 'Kids say stupid things. Hurtful things. Everyone knows that. It doesn't give you an excuse to murder them.'

Kai barely stumbled backwards, quickly gripping onto her wrist and holding it in place over his heart. 'I guess that's where our opinion differs then, Bon-Bon.' He replied icily. 'Because they got what was coming to them, and instead of Karma serving it, I did.'

* * *

Damon reached the edge of the woods a few minutes later. He was tired, confused and angry. Bonnie should be here, not him. She deserved to live more than anyone he knew, except maybe his brother.

'Why didn't I pick her up? Put her over my shoulder? Or snap that idiot's neck and take her with me?' He muttered loudly to himself. 'I could have saved her, like she saved me. Many times. I'm such a freaking _moron._'

He stomped onto a main road and followed it in the direction of town, stopping when he saw the 'Welcome to Mystic Falls' sign. Was it really only four months ago that everything fell apart? It felt like years to him. He paused just outside of the border and peered at the twinkling lights in the distance, his heart sinking. He couldn't even go home in this dimension, and that completely tore him apart inside.

'Damon?'

He recognised that voice. He would _always _recognise that voice. Even in a crowd full of unfamiliar people, he would know who it belonged to within seconds. Whirling around on the spot, he squinted slightly at the dark figure halfway down the road. He could just make out the other person's face, see the shock in their eyes before it was quickly replaced with something else. Confusion and relief.

'Stefan...'

The younger Salvatore stared at him for a few moments more, clearly trying to process everything, before half running, half stumbling down the road towards him. Damon blurred forward and met him halfway, swiftly pulling his brother into a deathly tight hug. He felt Stefan's tears on his neck and proceeded to drag him even closer, burying his face in the other man's hair. It smelt like hair gel and for some stupid reason, that made Damon smile.

'Damon. Damon. Damon.' Stefan sniffed, his arms tightly wound around Damon's neck. 'You're here. You're alive. Damon.'

'I'm here, Stef, I'm here.'


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: Thank you so much for all the reviews. They're greatly appreciated. :)**

**Enjoy! **

**Disclaimer: I own nothing. Unfortunately.**

* * *

Kai was bored.

'Haven't you found a way to fix that ascendant yet, Bon-Bon?' He asked, watching as the witch flicked the kettle on for like the forth time that morning.

'No. Not yet.'

Her reply was short, and it wasn't the answer he was looking for, still he asked the same question every day, at the exact same time.

It drove Bonnie insane.

'You should put more effort in then, because we have more chance of getting out using that than of me showing any remorse.'

He turned towards the calendar on the wall and frowned. 'It's nearly Christmas in the real world, Bonnie. We should celebrate.'

The witch snorted and raised her brows at him, not bothering to hide her surprise at his suggestion. 'Why would I ever want to spend Christmas with you?' She said, pouring the newly boiled water into a mug. 'I'd rather spend it alone. Thanks.'

'Look, I know that we're never going to be best friends, never going to have sleepovers, or braid each other's hair, or even talk about the hot guys in town.' He paused, pointing to himself. 'But we should be civil. We're both stuck here together and this animosity is such a waste of time.'

Bonnie resisted the urge to clap at his speech, adding a teabag to the mug and lifting it to her lips. 'You know something Kai? You're right. We should celebrate together.' She gave a nod, suddenly looking enthusiastic. 'Do you think you could go into town and find some decorations? I know it's May but some houses must have boxes of the stuff hidden away.'

Kai jumped off the couch and grabbed his jacket. 'Shall I look for a turkey as well? Or will a chicken do?'

'A chicken will be enough.' She responded, forcing a smile.

'Right. I'm on it.'

He bounded towards the front door and disappeared. Bonnie could hear the gravel crack under his shoes as he walked away and waited until it was fully silent again before hurrying upstairs to her room. She knew she didn't have much time, Kai had a habit of randomly turning up at the worst of moments, and she knew that he would be furious if he found out what she was up to.

Bonnie also wasn't stupid. She knew that he would never feel remorse, it just wasn't him. He had spent eighteen years in his own personal Hell and still had a look of delight upon his face every time he brought up his sibling's deaths.

So this, this was her only way to escape.

She scattered the pieces of the ascendant onto the bed covers and began putting it all together, her fingers moving quickly. She could already do this part, it was as easy as sending Kai on a wild goose chase. The bit she couldn't do was the spell to keep the device as one, and as predicted, it fell apart as soon as she moved her hands away.

'Dammit!' She cursed, fumbling to assemble the device again. 'I need to get out of here before I lose my mind. I_ need_ to.'

She tried every single spell she could remember, including a few of the darker ones, but to no avail. Muttering under her breath, she glared at the ascendant, as though that would fix all of her problems.

'There must be something that I've forgotten.' She growled.

* * *

Stefan filled Damon in on everything that had happened over the past four months, including Elena having no memories of her relationship with him and Alaric being the one who did it to her. Damon scowled at his words, but otherwise made no comment, waving a dismissive hand at his brother.

'I can deal with Elena once Bonnie is back, Stef, but right now I need to find a way to get her into this dimension again.' He rubbed at his eyes tiredly. 'She's trapped there with Kai, and I have no idea what he will do to her now.'

Stefan frowned. 'Kai. Who's that?'

Damon lifted a glass of bourbon to his lips and sipped at the amber contents. 'A kid with a million and one issues.' Tipping his head back, he drained the entire drink in one, slamming the tumbler down a little harder than necessary. 'We need to find a witch, and we need to find the Gemini coven.'

'I already checked it out, there wasn't a coven.'

Sighing, Damon dropped his face into his hands. Mumbling against the smooth skin, he murmured. 'Show me anyway.'

* * *

Several cups of coffee later, and Bonnie had decided to give up on fixing the ascendant. Sliding the pieces back into a bag and shoving it beneath her pillow again, she sighed in defeat. She could hear Kai moving around downstairs and went to investigate, finding a dozen or so cardboard boxes scattered across the floor in the living room.

'We're decorating one house, not the whole of America. You realise that, right?' She said, loud enough for him to hear.

He shot her a wicked smile and placed another box on the couch. 'This is the first time in eighteen years that I get to spend Christmas with someone, Bonnie. Let me enjoy it.'

'Are you going to get drunk again and try to seduce me?' She asked, pulling a piece of tinsel from one of the boxes and wrapping it around her neck.

'Not unless you want me to.' He kicked the door shut and stood in the middle of the room, hands on his hips. 'We can't have a tree yet, it'll only die. But we can do everything else.'

Snatching up some golden tinsel, he practically skipped around the room, draping it over random portraits of people he didn't recognise.

'You don't seem like the type to enjoy Christmas.' Bonnie enquired, attempting to untangle a giant clump of fairy lights.

Kai merely shrugged.

'It was the only time where my father was bearable.' He grabbed a beaten up looking Santa hat and shoved it onto his head. 'He was always too drunk to insult me, it was a nice change.'

'What is the deal with you and your father anyway? Why didn't he stop the coven from sending you here? I mean, you're still his so-'

She broke off when Kai snorted, an overly fake smile on his face. 'My father was the one to send me here, Bon-Bon.' He wrapped his fingers around the bit of tinsel he was holding, attempting to strangle it. 'He wanted me to be the leader of the coven, to make him proud. God, he used to favour me so much... Until he found out that I couldn't generate my own magic.'

'What happened?' Bonnie asked, subconsciously stepping closer to where he was stood.

'I got demoted. He said that an abomination could never be a leader.' He frowned, his eyes glazing over slightly. 'After that, he wanted nothing to do with me. Well, not until I killed my siblings.'

Snapping out of his thoughts, he continued to decorate the room, making sure everything looked perfect. Bonnie had never seen him take so much care with something before, but here he was, checking that the tinsel was in the correct position to reflect the lighting, giving it a twinkling effect.

'Are you going to untangle those lights or continue watching me with your mouth hanging open? Because I really don't mind the latter.' He threw her a wink and took the lights from her hands, expertly starting to unwind them.

'I was... just thinking about what you said.' She lied, moving over to sit in an empty chair. 'So is that why you killed them then? To make a point?'

Kai shrugged, pinning a line of lights around the first set of windows. 'Something like that.' He stepped back once he was done and admired his work, cocking his head to one side to check that it was exactly how he wanted it. Satisfied, he strolled over to one of the boxes, pulling out something that looked suspiciously like -

'Mistletoe.'

Throwing Bonnie a mischievous little smile, he hung it under the main doorway, whistling happily as he worked. 'There's no escape now, Bon-Bon.' He said, almost too cheerily for her liking.

* * *

Damon strolled through the halls of Whitmore College, looking for a certain blonde witch. Peering into a classroom window, he saw another familiar face instead.

'Alaric, how nice to see you alive and well.' He smirked, pushing the door open and sauntering over to where his old drinking buddy sat, marking test papers. 'I don't suppose you've seen Liv have you? I need her.'

Alaric's head shot up. 'Damon!' He shoved his chair back and hurried over, pulling the Salvatore brother into an awkward one armed hug. 'You did it... You came back.'

'I did. All by myself. Sort of.' He returned the hug, patting the other man on the back before moving away again. 'So, Liv, have you seen her?'

'Wait... Don't you care about Elena? You haven't even mentioned her and I thought you would be, uh, displeased at what I did.' He picked at the hem of his shirt, momentarily forgetting that he was an Original vampire who could easily kick Damon's ass, if he needed to.

Damon shook his head. 'You made her forget about me, she has a new boyfriend according to Stefan, and she seems happy. What is there to be pissed about? Besides, things change, Ric. I've changed. How can I worry about a relationship when Bonnie is trapped in another dimension? She saved me. Again. I owe her...'

Alaric blinked but didn't push the subject. 'Why do you need Liv, anyway?' He probed. 'She's usually found with Tyler. Those two seem to have some sort of complicated thing going -'

'I don't care about that.' Damon pulling a disgusted face. 'I just need to ask her some questions, about the Gemini coven.'

'I thought Stefan followed that lead... and found nothing.' Alaric's brows furrowed, 'At least that's what he told me.'

'I'm making him check it out again. Because they're the key to getting Bonnie back.'


	6. Chapter 6

**A:N. I'm in a writing mood recently, so I decided to add another chapter. **

**I might do the Christmas one next, and it's going to be special. :) **

**Disclaimer: I still own nothing, except the dirty thoughts in my head. Mwah.**

**Enjoy.**

* * *

Alcohol was great, Bonnie quickly realised. It made the world spin a little faster, made her head a little lighter and made a certain psychopath a little more bearable.

Not to mention, sexy.

They had just finished decorating the boarding house, Bonnie finding herself some alcohol and slowly drinking her way through it in the process, much to the annoyance of Kai.

'I told you to take it slow, Bonnie.' He said, clearly resisting the urge to hit his head against the nearest wall. He snatched up the half drunken bottle of whiskey and glowered at the witch, who merely smiled widely back at him. 'You're wasted.'

'And you're pretty.' She slurred, holding her hand out for the bottle. 'Too pretty, in fact. Are you sure you're not gay?'

He raised a brow, unsure if he should be insulted or amused by her words. 'Do I look gay?'

Scratching her chin, she shook her head, eyes still fixed on the bottle of whiskey in his hand. 'No, I suppose not. But you _did _keep giving Damon sex eyes.'

She suddenly lunged forward for the alcohol, missing by several inches and head-butting Kai in the stomach instead, causing him to groan and fall backwards with her on top. Whipping the bottle from his grasp, she held it up triumphantly, too buzzed to notice how close they both were to each other.

'Witchy, one. Psychopath, zero.' She whooped, unscrewing the cap and taking a hearty swig.

Kai lay dazed on the ground, grumbling something under his breath. 'I thought you were one of the good ones?'

'Even the good ones have bad days, Kai-Kai.' She replied with a shrug. Then she attempted to mimic his voice. ' _Let me have my fun_. Isn't that what you said?'

He scowled, stealing the bottle back and taking a drink himself. 'Fine. But I'm not going to watch while you give yourself alcohol poisoning. It's a painful way to die, trust me, I tried.'

She blinked. 'Careful, Kai, you almost sounded like you actually cared for me then.'

Without saying another word, he pushed her off of him and stood up, brushing dirt and bits of flint from his shirt.

'You like killing the mood, don't you?'

* * *

Damon managed to corner Liv later that day, swiftly grabbing the witch's arm and hauling her into an empty classroom.

'Okay, before you set wolf boy on me, I'm just here to ask you a question.' He said, trying to look as innocent as possible. He must have failed because she scowled even more, crossing her arms over her chest.

'I assume you mean Tyler... And why would I do that? We're not a couple.'

'Oh yeah, it's complicated, right?' He rolled his eyes. 'Whatever. I need to know about the Gemini coven.'

Her scowl lessened, only to be replaced with a look of nervousness and hesitation. Finally, she spoke up, her words coming out slow and deliberate. 'Why? Why do you need to know about them?'

Damon scratched the back of his head, wondering how best to approach the subject. Subtlety was never his strong suit so he went for the blunt option, subconsciously moving to block the door. 'I was trapped with someone, someone who knew the coven and wanted to wipe the rest of them out.'

Liv blinked and starting backing away, clearly not liking where the conversation was going. Damon grabbed her arm and lowered his voice to a murmur. 'You know who I'm talking about, don't you?'

'Malachai.' She said quietly, nodding. 'He was family.'

'Was?'

She pulled out of his grip and paced around the room, one hand moving through her curly blonde hair. 'He was insane, so they locked him up.' Turning to face Damon again, she frowned. 'If you met him, then that's bad. Very, very bad.'

'He's just a kid, what's the problem? He can't even do magic without a witch around to steal it from.'

Liv shook her head. 'Luke and I were only young when it happened, we don't remember very much. If you _really _want to know what you're up against with Malachai, then you'll need to visit someone else.'

Damon wanted to grab her shoulders and shake her. Frustration was starting to course through him and he didn't know how much time he had left. 'Who? Who can help me?' He growled, half turned towards the door.

'My father. He lives up in Portland, but...' She broke off, biting her lip. 'He's just as crazy as Kai is.'

Damon was gone before she had time to blink.

* * *

'I believe I can flllllllllllllllllllllyyyyyyyy. I believe I can-'

'Shut up? That would be great, thank you.' Kai shot the singing witch a glare. Bonnie had somehow managed to find even more alcohol and promptly drank it all, turning her into a badly singing mess.

'People keep telling me to lighten up.' She said, pausing to take a breath. 'So I am.'

The more she sang, the more his eye twitched, until he couldn't take it any more. Striding across the living room, he grabbed Bonnie and pressed her up against the wall, his face inches from hers. He could smell the alcohol on her breath and leaned away, narrowing his eyes. 'If this is revenge for me being drunk the other night, fine. Consider me sorry, but please, please, stop singing.'

'Why don't you make me?' She challenged, her lips lifting into a smirk that almost reminded him of Damon's. 'Or are you too scared?'

'Scared of _what _exactly?

She shrugged, slowly starting to slip down the wall. 'Intimacy. Being close to someone.' She dropped her voice to a dramatic whisper. 'Kissing.'

'You're drunk.' He said, frowning. 'You don't know what you're talking about.'

'Isn't that when the truth comes out?' She almost purred, the alcohol making her bolder than ever. She leaned forward and closed the distance between the two of them, her lips pressing lightly against his. He tasted like jam, with a hint of inexperience, and a small part of her actually liked it. It was different to kissing Jeremy, he was always over boisterous and lacked the level of tenderness that Kai was currently displaying. He was hesitant and clearly wanted Bonnie to take the lead, his lips parting slightly for her to control the kiss if she wanted to.

And damn, she wanted to. Darting her tongue out, she ran it along his lower lip, simply tasting him and what he had to offer. His body quivered against hers and he very discreetly moved even closer, resting both of his hands on her hips, holding her in place. Taking that as an invitation to continue, Bonnie slipped her tongue into his mouth, exploring every inch of Kai with a contented sigh. The more she tasted him, the more addictive he seemed to become until the rational part of her brain finally woke up, loudly reminding her just _who _she was kissing._  
_

She snapped her eyes open and stared at an equally surprised looking Kai.

'Well that was _a lot _better than what I had been daydreaming about.' He murmured, swiping his tongue across his lips. He could still taste the alcohol, mixed in with something that made Bonnie even more appealing to him than before.

'I... Shouldn't have done that.' She whispered, starting to sober up quickly as she looked at him with wide, horrified eyes.

Pushing him away, she bolted towards the stairs, nearly falling over the sofa in her haste to get away. 'Shit. Shit. Shit. Shit.'

'Bonnie!' He called, flinching when the slamming of her bedroom door gave him his answer. 'Great.'


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N: Sorry this took so long, between work, illness and a parent being seriously ill, I didn't realise it's been nearly a month since I last updated this. Oops, but on the plus side, I've decided what I wanted to do with the chapter, and It's going in an opposite direction to the show.**

**There's another ship that I've been shipping recently and I'm going to slip that into this fic, but let you guess who it is. Heh.**

**I think that's everything.**

**Enjoy.**

**Oh btw, thank you for all the reviews, I do read each and every one of them. :)**

* * *

**Quick summary: Bonnie got drunk and kissed Kai before running away.**

The following morning came quicker than Bonnie would have liked. A bright, pre-eclipse sun shone through the window of her bedroom, causing her to squint and force her face under the pillow.

Before quickly remembering what happened last night.

'Shit!' She hissed, rapidly sitting up and tossing the pillow to one side, 'Shit. Shit. Shit.'

Pushing back the blankets, she jumped out of bed and ran into the bathroom, skidding to a stop in front of the mirror. She didn't _look _ill, but why else would she kiss Kai? The memory of last night's events flitted into her mind and sat right at the front, refusing to budge again.

'Maybe... Maybe I dreamt it all.' She murmured to herself, splashing cold water onto her face. 'This place is screwing with my mind, that's all. Shit.'

A small, stubborn part of her knew that it wasn't a dream though. She could still taste the little psychopath on her lips and it made her nauseas, nauseas and confused.

Her thoughts drifted back home to Jeremy. Was she cheating on him? Or had he already found someone new himself? Even if she was free and single to do whatever she wished, randomly making out with Kai was a big no-no. What would _Damon_ say?

She shook her head and padded back into the bedroom, seeing the bag with the ascendant kept in laying where the pillow was moments earlier. Walking towards it, she tipped the assorted pieces out into her hand, eyeing each one with fresh determination.

'I need to get out of here. Now.'

Quickly placing the pieces into their correct positions, she held the ascendant tightly in her hand, concentrating all of her magic into one place before slowly pushing it into the device. She knew that using dark magic had the potential to kill her, but the need to get home to her friends and a normal life again outweighed any risks, and only made her more determined to do it.

She felt the windows begin to rattle while the lights above her swung on their chains, flickering more erratically with each passing second, and yet she still continued, blood pouring down her nose as she chanted the same few words over and over under her breath.

'Mortis... Purtagio... Ascensia...' The ascendant felt hot in her hands and she found herself smiling. Pictures of her friends started clouding her mind and succeeded in spurring her on even more. She saw Elena, Caroline, Jeremy and Damon all telling her that she was doing the right thing, and she could feel it too. The magic seemed to come alive inside of her, telling her to push harder, be a bit stronger, last a bit longer, and not give up. Eagerly obliging, she barely noticed the pure white light slowly filling up the room, hardly felt her heart working at double the effort just to keep her alive. All she felt was power.

The magic continued flowing steadily through her body, making her feel more dangerous than ever. She knew she could do this, she was a Bennett witch after all.

'Bonnie! No! Stop!'

The voice sounded like a mere murmur in her mind and she hastily pushed it away, chanting louder and more urgently to drown it all out.

'Bonnie! You're killing yourself!' The voice said again, this time more panicky. She felt a hand grip onto her wrist and then her magic began to waver, the intensity slowly dimming out like an old light bulb before completely cutting off, leaving her feeling extremely light headed and confused.

Snapping out of her thoughts, she whipped her head around to see Kai lying on the floor, his face contorted in visible pain. His entire body glowed almost as brightly as the sun itself and a constant twitch ran through him.

'You... cursed the magic...' He choked out, his eyes finding hers and locking on. 'It would have... permanently destroyed you.'

Bonnie stared at him, 'But it's going to destroy you now!' She growled and after a moments hesitation, reached out her hand, taking a hold of his and giving it a squeeze. She couldn't take the magic back, no matter how much she wanted to right now, but she could comfort him, if only in a small way.

'I can't... Die.' He curled up tighter into himself and clung onto her hand for dear life, laughing quietly in that manic way of his. 'Not permanently, anyway.'

'You're making a joke? Now?' She asked in disbelief, throwing the ascendant to one side and pulling him into her lap, flinching at how hot to the touch he really was. 'Bad timing, don't you think?'

Kai snorted, resting his forehead against her shoulder. 'It's never too late for jokes, Bon-Bon.'

She opened her mouth to reply when she suddenly felt all the heat disappear from Kai's body, leaving him limp and unresponsive in her arms. Raising two fingers, she pressed them against his neck, snarling slightly when she couldn't find a pulse.

'Shit!' She cried out, irritated and annoyed. Not only had she failed to fix the ascendant, but she also allowed Kai to absorb some extremely powerful magic, magic that was clearly meant to kill the consumer when it reached a certain intensity. Kai _was_ dead, granted, but he would wake up again soon and she had no idea how the magic would effect him, or if it would leave any lingering problems in his life.

Another part of her mind registered the fact that Kai had just saved her. She could tell herself that he did it so she wouldn't escape with the ascendant, but something was telling her that it was more. He wanted the device fixed as much as she did, so why would he stop her? He also knew that she couldn't die and escape from the ghost world either, so why did he save her? Massaging her forehead with one hand, she peered down at his unconscious form, a small smile tugging at her lips.

'Thank you,' She murmured, faltering for a moment before pushing her fingers through his hair. Bonnie wasn't used to people saving her. Usually she was the one who had to be sacrificed so that everyone else could live, but here she was, being saved by _Kai _of all people. It made her feel special, like she was actually worth something for once, and she liked it.

'I won't forget about this, I promise.'


	8. Chapter 8

**A/N: Happy New Year! Hope you all have a good night tonight. I will probably be sleeping soon because I'm so lazy, and I just want this year to be over and done with. **

**I put off updating this till I found out what was happening with my mother, but she got given the all clear. So apart from being good news, it means I have my muse back again.**

**Enjoy.**

* * *

A whole month had slowly passed and Damon still had no idea how to get Bonnie back. He had searched through every book, every internet site, every witch contact that either he or Stefan had obtained over the years, and yet he still came to a dead end. Stefan was right about the Gemini coven, they didn't exist anymore. He just wished he believed his brother before enduring the torture of being stuck in a car with him and Enzo bickering for the entire trip.

His mind wandered back to the memory, a small frown creasing onto his forehead.

_'Are you sure you checked properly?' Enzo said, peering out of the car window._

_Stefan simply rolled his eyes, purposely reclining his chair back so it smacked right into the annoying prat. 'No, maybe you're right. Maybe I missed the giant flashing neon sign that said 'Gemini Coven located here!' Damn, it's a good thing we have you here, right?'_

_He gave Damon a 'how are you friends with this ass?' sort of look and lifted his feet onto the dashboard, eyes following the sat nav in front of him._

_Unable to help himself, he said, 'Can't you muzzle him? Do us all a favour.'_

_'The only one around here who needs muzzling is you, mate.' Enzo chirped, kicking back at the chair. 'Damon told me all about your Ripper days. They sounded like a blast.' He paused, 'I didn't know you had it in you to be fun._

_Whipping around in his seat, Stefan whacked the British bastard over the head before quickly glancing over at Alaric, who was sitting in the far corner and sensibly keeping quiet._

_Stefan was right though. There was no house. There wasn't anything except a blank field. He cast a smug look over in Enzo's direction before turning to his brother and muttering, 'I'm sorry, I wish it was different.'_

_'Maybe they moved?' Alaric piped up, leaning against the hood of the car. 'I wouldn't want to stay here if half of my family died, would you?'_

_Damon shook his head, 'Even if they moved, the house would still be here, and it's not. It's weird.'_

'Damon?'

Shaking himself from his thoughts, Damon looked up at the mention of his name, smiling faintly as Elena walked over to where he was sat. He turned towards the bartender again and ordered himself a fresh drink, patting the empty stool to his right, silently motioning for her to sit down.

'I was just trying to see if I could remember anything important from the Portland trip.' He said, sighing.

'And?'

'Nothing. Absolutely nothing.'

He knocked back his entire drink in one and set the empty tumbler down on the counter. Frustration was bubbling beneath his cool exterior, and even drink wasn't helping anymore. It had been a month now and he had found _nothing. _Zilch. Zero. Nada. All the others wanted him to give up, to accept that Bonnie was probably dead by now anyway, but he couldn't. He couldn't leave her with _him_, not for an eternity.

'You need a night off.' Elena started, 'It's New Years Eve, Damon. Please? We're all getting worried about you, especially Stefan. He thinks you're obsessed with this Kai thing...' She trailed off, awkwardly rubbing her arm. 'I mean, one night won't hurt, right? Plus, you completely shunned Christmas.'

It was true. Instead of partying with the others and getting drunk like the old Damon would have done, he sat alone in a different bar every night, pouring over piles and piles of dusty books while trying to find an answer. He didn't even complain when Tyler and his little blonde witch girlfriend sat beside him and made comments on how much he was wasting his time.

'Damon?' She repeated, brows furrowing in concern.

'I have nothing to celebrate.' He muttered dully. 'Besides, I don't think I can deal with Caroline's dulcet tones tonight. I'm already gaining a headache.'

'You're gaining a headache because you're obsessing over _this. _We all want Bonnie back, we do, but you need to take a break before you run yourself into the ground.'

Damon blinked, deep down knowing that she was right, though he would never admit it to her. 'Fine. Where's this celebration taking place anyway?'

'At the swimming hole.' She said, giving him a quick smile. 'It's the only decent place around here.'

'You call a pond decent?'

Rolling her eyes humorously, she replied. 'You know what I mean.'

* * *

Bonnie woke up early the next morning, still on the floor and still with Kai in her arms. She rubbed the sleep from her eyes and squinted at the clock, grumbling quietly when she realized it was only six am. Carefully removing him from her lap, she stood up and stretched out her stiff limbs, trying to be as quiet as possible.

'Just another beautiful day in Paradise.' She said with a snort, wandering towards the kitchen to flick the kettle on. Her eyes caught the little calender she made a few months ago and she snatched it up, squinting at the date.

'It's New Years Eve.' She muttered to herself. 'Have I really been here six months?'

The kettle boiled and she poured herself a large mug of coffee, figuring that she'll need it to get through today and tonight with her sanity still intact.

'Bonnie?'

Kai's voice sounded weaker than she had expected and it actually shocked her. She fully expected him to be back to his annoying, homicidal self, but clearly that wasn't the case.

'Hey.' She said, attempting a smile as she walked over and crouched down in front of him. 'How're you feeling?'

'Weird.' He shifted himself into a sitting position and stared down at his hands, almost as though he was waiting for them to talk back to him. When they didn't, he looked up and caught her gaze. 'I don't feel like myself.'

'What do you mean?' Bonnie frowned, quickly running her eyes over his entire body before meeting his gaze again. Apart from the weakened voice, he looked exactly the same, except maybe a bit paler. 'What's wrong?'

He shrugged a shoulder, mirroring her frown. 'I don't know, I can't explain it.'

* * *

The swimming hole was packed that night. Everyone in Virginia seemed to have turned up for the party, which made Damon super agitated. Pushing his way through a crowd of dudes he didn't even recognise, he saw Stefan, Alaric and Enzo stood in one corner with a box of what looked like fireworks. Stefan and Enzo were arguing about something while Alaric leaned against a nearby tree, watching them both wearily.

'You're meant to set fireworks off in a _clearing, _moron. Do you want to set this entire place ablaze?' Stefan was hissing, snatching a particularly large looking firework from the other man's hands.

Enzo growled at the insult, his eyes narrowing. 'Don't be so dramatic, bunny-boy, it'll be going into the sky, not the trees.'

'And you're suddenly an expert on fireworks are you? Stefan growled back, purposely ignoring the nickname. 'Did they teach you that while they were using you as a vampire guinea pig?'

Damon, sensing that this wasn't going to end well, stepped forward to block Stefan from Enzo's view and vice versa. 'Come on now, there's enough fireworks for the both of you. No need to fight over them.'

'They've been at each other's throats for the past thirty minutes now.' Alaric said with a groan, picking up the box of fireworks and carrying it away, secretly in need of a stiff drink.

Damon blinked, eyeing one man and then the other. 'What's going on with you two?'

'You have an awful taste in friends, Damon.'

'Ouch, I'm offended, love.' Enzo replied, a sly smile creeping onto his lips.

Stefan narrowed his eyes. 'Don't call me that.'

'Only Klaus can call him that.' Damon chimed in, waggling his brows at his younger brother.

'Who's Klaus?' Enzo blinked, confused.

Damon just sniggered, picking up any remaining fireworks in his arms and sauntering away with them. 'His _boyfriend. _Well, ex-boyfriend.'

With that, he disappeared, leaving Stefan looking murderous.

'He wasn't my boyfriend. I'm not even _gay.' _He spat at the other vampire.

'You sure about that, mate?'

If they weren't surrounded by a million other people, Stefan was sure he would have killed the annoying little asshole right here and right now. But they were, and since he didn't particularly fancy compelling them all to forget his actions, he merely gritted his teeth together and stalked off, not even bothering to look back.

* * *

'I'm back!'

Bonnie pushed her way through the Boarding House's front door and set a ton of fully packed bags down onto the living room floor rug, glancing around for Kai. She found him still curled up on the sofa, staring blankly into space.

'I got us some food _and _even managed to find a few fireworks hidden away at the town hall.' Picking up a brightly decorated box from one of the bags, she set it down in front of Kai, waiting for his reaction.

He grunted. 'Great.'

Ever since he woke up that morning, he barely said two words to Bonnie, something she would have been extremely grateful for if she wasn't feeling so damn guilty at the moment. It was _her _fault that this was happening to him, and she had no idea if the spell was still having a lasting effect on his body or not.

'Please? It might distract you for a while.'

Eventually he blinked, his eyes turning to fix onto hers. 'Fine. But only for you.'

'Wait... _really?' _She was surprised that he had agreed so easily, but didn't question it anymore, simply relieved that she wouldn't have to spend tonight alone.

'Thank you.'

* * *

The fireworks hurt Damon's eyes and he found himself squinting up at the flashing lights, the low bang they made briefly echoing throughout the night sky before fading away into nothing. Alaric had wisely moved the box to an empty clearing and was solely in charge of lighting them, something that annoyed Enzo greatly.

'I was a soldier in the war, I was tortured for _years _and somehow made it out without losing my sanity, and yet I can't be trusted to light a firework?' He snarled, watching as the history teacher lit another one, causing the night sky to erupt into little red and green explosions of light.

'They have an age limit.' Stefan smirked, holding a cup of vodka to his lips. 'I don't think you quite reach it yet. Mentally, that is.'

Damon snorted, earning himself a glare from his best friend. 'What? It was funny.'

Turning his gaze upwards again, he watched absentmindedly as the sky flashed once more, this time with a giant blue catherine wheel. Muttering under his breath so that the others wouldn't hear him, he lifted his cup up into the air and said. 'I miss you, Bon-Bon.'

* * *

Bonnie took the box of fireworks out onto the front lawn of the Boarding House and carefully began setting them all up. She could hear Kai behind her and turned around to see him sitting on the front steps, a jacket tightly wrapped around his body. He was still acting odd, and it was starting to creep her out, but she didn't know what to do about it, so for now, she focused on distracting him with the fireworks.

'Ready?' She called over her shoulder, retrieving a lighter from her pocket and lighting the first rocket. As soon as it started to spark and hiss she stepped backwards, flopping down beside Kai on the steps.

'Do you see many fireworks?' She asked, gently prodding him in the ribs.

The rocket exploded above them, covering the entire night sky in gold and silver sparkles. Kai watched them with a faint smile, shaking his head. 'Not really. My father didn't like them... But they're nice.'

As the sparkles faded, she turned to face him, subconsciously smiling herself. 'Yeah, yeah they are. I guess even Hell has it's own beauty.'

He moved to catch her gaze, his voice dropped to a low whisper, and said. 'Yeah, but I knew that already.'


	9. Chapter 9

**A/N: How has it been like a month since I updated this? Feels like a week ago to me. Oops, sorry about that.**

**I was lurking around on Twitter the other day and Bonkai is becoming more popular. My babies. *Squishes them.***

**Ahem. Anyway.**

**Enjoy.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own anything. It's a bitch.**

* * *

Damon cornered Liv the next day, Tyler still glued to her side like the loyal little dog that he was. The older Salvatore had no idea what the ex-hybrid saw in the witch, except that she looked a lot like Caroline, being blonde and stubborn and all, but his presence annoyed the vampire, who wanted a little one on one conversation with Blondie with no interruptions or distractions.

'Shoo Mutt.' He said, waving both hands at Tyler in a shooing gesture. 'It's not you I want to see today. Or any other day, for that matter.'

The teenager scowled at the word 'Mutt' before shaking his head. 'I don't trust you alone with her, Damon.'

With a snort, Damon rolled his eyes. 'She has magic and can look after herself. You on the other hand, are useless without your hybrid capabilities. Shoo.'

Tyler's scowl turned icy cold before he stalked off without another word.

'Do you have to piss him off?' Liv asked, her arms folded across her chest.

'Do you have to piss _me _off? I know you lied about your dad's location. We went there and the-'

'I didn't lie about anything.' Liv quickly cut in. 'The location I gave you was the correct one.'

'There was no house there, Blondie. Or is it invisible now?' Damon said.

'Actually it is. To non magical people, anyway. A bit like Hogwarts.'

'Hog-What?' The vampire shook his head with a frustrated sigh, someone was going to die soon, and he had dibs on it being the blonde nuisance stood in front of him. 'Whatever. So you're saying the house is invisible unless someone has magic? Then why didn't you tell me that before?'

Liv shrugged. 'You didn't ask.'

'Find anything?'

Stefan's timing was perfect, as always, as Damon was just about to snap the little witch's neck. He turned towards his brother with a low growl, completely ignoring Liv now. 'We need magic to see the house.'

'Then we'll bring a witch with us.' Stefan's gaze turned towards Liv, who was slowly trying to creep away from them both. She froze on the spot and shook her head. 'Hell no, I don't want to go back.'

'You won't have a choice, Blondie.' Damon snarled, stepping towards her again. 'Bonnie's my friend and I'm not leaving her there because you're going to be a stubborn bitc-'

'Damon!'

Stefan pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed. 'Look, this isn't going to solve anything.' He caught and held the witch's eye contact before continuing. 'Though if you won't help, we'll use your brother instead.'

'You don't know where he is.' Liv said slowly, cursing herself when she realized she had no idea where Luke was either, something she didn't want to tell the vampires stood in front of her. 'And he wouldn't help you anyway.'

'He's with Enzo.' Damon replied simply. 'And he _will _help. Unless he wants to die again, for good this time.'

Liv opened her mouth to protest before swiftly deciding against it, a look of defeat crossing her features. 'Fine. But I'm only taking him.' She pointed at Stefan. 'Because I sure as Hell don't trust being alone with _you.'_

She hurried towards the exit, pausing with one hand on the doorknob. 'We leave tomorrow morning.'

* * *

Bonnie stared up at the eclipse, her eyes squinting against the sun as it peeked around the shadows and filled up the sky again, thick rays of light covering Mystic Falls in a blanket of warmth. The day slowly returned to normal, seeming just like any other spring afternoon in the small Virginia town.

Except it wasn't.

Bonnie had lost count of how many eclipses passed by, desperately trying to block out their presence with a 'If I can't see you, you can't see me' attitude, usually withdrawing into her room with the curtains pulled until they were over. Today, however, she watched it, watched as the day reset itself. She turned her attention to the front door, where a brand new newspaper appeared on the mat. Kai told her only things that were used by either him or her replaced themselves on a daily basis.

_'It makes sense, really.' _He had said when she asked him how the magic worked. '_Otherwise I would be drowning in bags of pork rinds by now, not that I'm complaining.'_

Bonnie sighed, slowly ambling back towards the house. It had been days since she used dark magic, and yet Kai still wasn't back to his old self. The cockiness inside him had faded away completely, leaving behind someone she didn't even recognize. Pushing open the front door, she padded over to where he sat slumped in an arm chair with a semi vacant expression on his face. He needed a doctor, she could see that, but she didn't have one. She also didn't want to mess around with medicines herself, too scared that she'd screw him up even more.

Perching herself on the arm of his chair, she extended one hand towards Kai's head, carefully stroking his hair. He twitched at her touch, pale eyes lifting to meet her gaze.

'What?'

'I was just thinking,' She said, slowly pulling her hand away again. 'What if there's another ascendant?'

Kai blinked, sitting up straighter in his chair. 'What do you mean?'

Bonnie faltered, her throat suddenly dry. Watching the newspaper respawn itself made her think, could the ascendant do the same? After all, Kai did move the original. What if there was another in it's place? 'You disturbed the ascendant by picking it up and bringing it to Virginia, right? Would another one reset in it's place?'

'I... Don't know.' He chewed on his lower lip. 'Maybe.'

'Don't you want to find out? I mean, what do we have to lose?'

With a shrug, Kai slumped back against the chair, his entire body lightly trembling. 'Why? You're meant to be making me feel remorse, remember? Isn't that what your precious Gram's wanted?'

'I don't want to die, Kai, I want to go home. Like Damon did.'

'And then what? We go our separate ways? Pretend all of this never happened?' He grabbed a cushion and hid his face behind it, voice muffled against the dusty fabric. 'Is that what you want?' He didn't need to see her to know the answer. He knew that she missed her friends more than anything, he could see it in her eyes every time he mentioned them. She didn't want to be with him any longer, she wanted to be surrounded with people she actually _liked. _And he wasn't one of them.

'I just want to go home, Kai.'

Removing the cushion with a forced smile, he stood up and headed for the stairs. 'Then pack your bags, Bon-Bon, we have a long trip ahead of us.'

* * *

'Are you sure you don't want me to come with you?' Damon asked, watching as Stefan threw a small suitcase into the back of Liv's truck. 'Blondie isn't really a match for me...' He moved towards the trunk, subtly eyeing the limited space inside. 'Or I could just smuggle myself in.'

Laughing quietly, Stefan shook his head. 'We'll be fine. Just keep looking for other answers, okay? In case this one falls through.' He clapped the other vampire on the shoulder. 'We'll get her back, one way or another. I promise.' He climbed into the car and shut the door, muttering something to Liv that Damon couldn't make out.

Damon sighed and stepped back, eyeing the truck silently as it drove away.

'I don't like this.' Tyler said, his eyes also fixed on the retreating car, though for different reasons.

'Blondie's replaceable.' The older Salvatore shrugged. 'Bonnie and Stefan aren't.'

'How can you say that?' The teenager growled, rounding on Damon with narrowed eyes. 'You know I care about her.'

'I do, but you should also care about Bonnie. After all, she did help you to come back.' The frustration at having no answer or no way to bring the little witch back was eating at him and he finally snapped, his eyes flaring. 'Yet you're too busy running after someone who's a lot like Caroline just because you fucked up with the _real _Caroline! It's pathetic.'

'She slept with Klaus, remember? How did I fuck up?'

Damon turned away and wandered off without uttering another word, urgently needing to calm down before he did something he would later regret.

* * *

'I don't like this.'

Bonnie blinked at the small aircraft sitting innocently on the tarmac in front of her before turning to Kai, her fight or flight reflex telling her to run like a bat out of Hell. 'Did I mention that I don't like this?'

'It'll be _fine_. This isn't the first time I've flown a plane, you know. How did you think I got here?'

'Car?'

Kai shook his head with a small smile. 'Too slow, Bon-Bon.' He pulled open a door and climbed in behind the controls, checking over everything quickly. Bonnie moved towards him, leaning her body against the plane's metal frame.

'Are you sure you're up to doing this? I don't know how to fly a plane if you pass out on me.'

'I crashed the first time I flew.' Kai muttered, fishing out a handbook from one of the compartments. 'I don't particularly want to experience that again, don't worry.' He looked up and shot her an easy smile.

'It'll be fine. Hop in.'


	10. Chapter 10

**A/N: This chapter took me forever to write due to me constantly changing the plot around. Sorry for the delay. **

**Enjoy.**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing.**

* * *

Caroline handed Elena a steaming hot mug of coffee before sitting on the bed beside her. She lifted her own cup to her lips and took a sip, the scolding liquid almost burning her tongue. With a wince, she turned towards her friend, unsure of how to start the conversation.

'Has Stefan texted you yet?' She asked, now softly blowing on her drink in an attempt to cool it down.

Elena nodded. 'They've just reached Oregon. He'll call either me or Damon later with more news.'

'Oh.' Another sip. 'Does Damon know that-'

'That I compelled away my feelings for him? No, not yet.' Slumping back against the headboard, Elena sighed. 'He's been so distracted with Bonnie recently... I just haven't had the time to tell him anything.'

Setting her drink down on her knee, Caroline stared at the other vampire, her voice lowered. 'Do you really think Bonnie can be saved?'

'Damon came back.' Elena said slowly, her eyes fixed on the mug in her hands. 'If he can, she can.' She lifted her gaze to Caroline's, a slight smile gracing her lips. 'I mean, this is _Bonnie_. She can do anything.'

'Do you think she'll forgive us?'

Elena furrowed her brows and grimaced. 'For giving up on her? I don't know.'

'I feel horrible.' Caroline sighed, pushing her mug away. 'We all thought they were dead, we all gave up. Well, all of us except for Enzo. Even Stefan thought Damon was gone for good and tried to start his life again.'

'We had no proof that they were alive, Care.' The brunette vampire lay her hand on her friend's leg, giving it a comforting squeeze. 'Don't feel guilty. We're doing something _now _and that's what's important.'

The door opened and Enzo and Alaric walked into the room, stopping dead when they saw the two vampires huddled close on the bed.

'I knew they would be here.' Alaric muttered to the other man, walking into the dorm and sitting on an empty bed. 'No Damon though.'

'Is he not with you?' Elena asked, surprised.

Enzo shook his head, moving to sit beside Alaric. 'We haven't seen him for hours now. Thought he would be with you two.'

Both women looked at each other quickly before Caroline spoke up.

'You don't think he's done anything stupid, do you?'

'Actually, I do.' Jerking his head towards Alaric, Enzo continued. 'Damon sent a text before disappearing off the face of the Earth.'

Caroline widened her eyes, turning her attention towards the ex-history teacher. 'Well? What did it say?'

'Here. See for yourself.' Fishing the phone from his pocket, Alaric handed it over to the blonde vampire, Elena peering over her shoulder to read the words as well.

'Two ascendants? Is that it? Is that all he said?'

'Yup.' Enzo nodded. 'So where is he?'

* * *

'Tell me again why you're kidnapping me?' Luke asked, staring across the car at Damon, whose driving style was starting to terrify him. The vampire didn't seem to be sticking to any highway codes, and the poor car they were traveling in was groaning under the stress of being pushed to its limits. 'If you want to do something stupid, go ahead. But don't involve me.'

'I need _you_ to see the house, doofus.' The older Salvatore replied, his hands gripping onto the wheel with such an intense grip that his knuckles were turning white.

Luke fidgeted in his seat. 'I still don't understand...' He trailed off at Damon's expression. 'What?'

'You're useless.'

'So you've said.' Luke rolled his eyes. 'Like fifty seven times now.'

Damon smiled to himself before answering.

'I need to get my hands on that ascendant. The one your father has.'

'He won't give it to you.' Luke muttered. 'He doesn't want Kai free.'

Damon chuckled. 'He will.'

'And you know this because?'

'I just know.'

Luke huffed, folding his arms across his chest. 'Even if he _did _give it to you, what are you going to do? Go back to get Bonnie yourself?'

'That's _exactly _what I'm going to do.'

* * *

Liv and Stefan arrived at the house, or rather the space where the house was concealed, later that day. She pulled her car onto the driveway and killed the engine, peering over at him nervously.

'Why are we here again?' She asked quietly.

'Damon wants me to get some answers about that parallel ghost world.' He threw the door open and stepped out of the car, waiting for Liv to do the same. When she hesitated, he sighed and walked around to her side. 'We'll be quick, I promise.'

Shooting him a brief 'you owe me big time' look, she finally unfastened her seat belt and climbed out. Taking Stefan's hand in hers, she turned towards the newly visible house, the younger Salvatore's mouth dropping open as his eyes took in the huge white manor in front of him.

'Impressive.' He mouthed, tugging her towards the door and knocking twice. A shadow appeared on the other side of the frosted glass and Stefan took a hesitant step backwards, quickly releasing Liv's hand.

The door opened and an oldish man peered down at them, his grey hair reflecting the sunlight. He frowned at Stefan before his eyes caught Liv's, the frown deepening somewhat.

'Olivia? What are you doing here? Where's Luke?'

'He's back in Mystic Falls.' Liv faltered, subtly flicking her gaze to the vampire stood beside her. 'My friend wanted to - uh - ask you some questions. About Kai.'

The man's face instantly hardened at the 'K' word, his eyes boring into Stefan's. 'Is that so? And what would you want to know about _him. _He's gone. Dead.'

Stefan rubbed the back of his neck, half wishing that Damon were here to do this himself. 'My brother died and... met him.'

'That's impossible.' The man stubbornly shook his head. 'No one can get to him, he's locked away.'

'In 1994, yeah?'

'How did-? He started.

'I told you, my brother has met him. Now, can we talk somewhere more private?'

Liv snorted softly. 'This house is invisible to outsiders, remember? But we should move this conversation inside anyway.' She peered up at her father and waited, smiling tentatively when he finally moved to one side to let them in.

* * *

'What do you want to know about Malachai then?'

Stefan carefully perched himself on the edge of the couch, slowly shaking his head when the man offered him a glass of brandy. He glanced over at Liv, who was watching them both cautiously, as though half expecting it to kick off soon. 'How did you make that device? Ascendant, is it?'He figured playing dumb would get him more answers and waited patiently, not wanting to push or rush the guy.

'Does it really matter? No one else could replicate that spell, not unless they're part of the coven, anyway.'

Stefan's eyes wandered towards the blonde witch again, mentally storing that bit of information away for later use. 'Why? So no one else can get to Kai?'

'Something like that.' The man paused, wondering how much to tell. Giving a careless shrug, he carried on. 'Kai may have killed his siblings, but some people still care about him. Some even want him free, believing that death would be better for him than the prison world.'

'Who are these people?'

Swallowing, the man walked towards the mantelpiece and picked up a photo. He flipped it around so that Stefan could see and pointed at an image of a woman stood at the back of the picture. 'Their mother.'

Stefan blinked. 'Where is she?'

'Gone.'

'Dead?' The vampire arched a brow curiously.

'No... Just gone.'

'You said she died! When we were younger!' Liv cut in, staring at her father with narrowed eyes.

'I don't understand.' Stefan said, running a hand through his hair whilst looking completely lost.

'You're not the only one.' The blonde witch replied angrily, her eyes still fixated on her father's.

'Is now a good time for us to break in?'

All three of them spun around to face Damon, who was stood in the doorway with Luke behind him. He gave a little wave and stepped into the house, his eyes moving from Liv's to Stefan's to the man's.

'Nice place.' He commented, moving to sit beside his brother on the couch. 'I'm impressed you could hide something as big as this. Paranoid, much?'

'Who are _you?' _The man asked, scowling again.

'Damon Salvatore.' The older Salvatore smiled cheerfully. 'You?'

'Steve. Steve Parker.' He turned his attention to Luke and motioned him into the house. 'Explain.'

Luke jerked his head towards Damon. 'He wants the ascendant, father.'

'What?'

'What?'

'_What?' _Stefan stared at his brother as though he had finally cracked, his brows drawn together in a deep frown. 'You're kidding, right?'

Damon shook his head, smiling in that smug way of his. 'Actually, I'm not.' He turned towards the elder Parker and continued. 'A little birdy told me that there are two ascendants, am I right?'

'Two... What? This doesn't make any sense.' Liv said, standing up and walking over to her twin. 'Do you know what he's talking about?'

Luke shook his head. 'He hasn't made much sense since we left Mystic Falls.' He responded, eyeing the vampire warily.

Damon sighed. 'You're all so slow. Sit down and learn.' He strolled towards what looked like an alcohol cabinet and pulled out a bottle at random. Popping off the lid, he turned towards the rest of them again, all of whom were watching him with expressions of confusion. 'The ascendant that sent Kai away in the first place is like a one way ticket.' He took a swig of his drink. 'He can't use it to return, but others can. Like me. Like Bonnie.'

Stefan perked a brow, still looking semi confused. 'So why would there be another?'

'Love, darling brother, love.' Damon replied simply, his eyes flicking towards Steve's. 'Your wife made another ascendant, didn't she? One that would bring psycho little Malachai back. That's why she's not here. You kicked her out of the coven.'

'How... How do you know that?'

Damon's lips curled into a satisfied grin. 'Like I said before, a little birdy told me.'

The man hung his head. 'She lost so many children that night. It made her insane.' He swallowed again and looked up at the twins. 'She didn't believe in our ways, didn't like our rules. Kai was just the icing on the cake.'

'What do you mean?'

'Losing one kid is hard enough. Losing more than one is a tragedy.' He turned his attention back towards the photo, sighing sadly. 'She made another ascendant in secret, one in which she could use to go and get Kai back. Luckily I caught her on the night she tried to do it. I took the device away and banished her from the coven for breaking our rules.'

'She was your _wife. _Our mother!' Liv cried out, her hands balling into fists.

'Olivia...' Her father sighed again. 'The coven comes first. You both know that. I had no choice, I'm the _leader.'_

_'_Not to break up this little episode of Jerry Springer or anything, but I still don't understand why you want the ascendant, Damon?' Stefan said, an uneasy tone in his voice. 'You're not going back there, you can't. You've only just come home.'

'I need to, Stefan. It's for Bonnie.'

The younger Salvatore stared at his brother for a moment, completely zoning out everyone else in the room, before reluctantly nodding once. 'Fine. I understand.'

'Who says I'm even going to give it to you?' The man said coldly.

'Me.' Damon replied, his fangs showing in his smile.

* * *

Bonnie gripped the sides of her seat as the small plane hit another air pocket, grimacing in discomfort. 'I don't suppose you know how to fly a private jet, do you? You know, something more comfortable.'

'I tried to fly one once.' Kai grinned, banking the aircraft to the left slightly to alter its position. 'But I crashed and... Yeah, It wasn't pleasant.'

'You've been here for eighteen years and you can't fly something classier? I'm disappointed.' She narrowed her eyes at him when the plane bounced again. 'Are you doing this on purpose?' She hissed, starting to feel nauseous.

Kai chuckled, completely unaffected by all of the bumping. 'It's turbulence, Bon-Bon. Not me.'

Bonnie growled, glancing over at him. 'How are you feeling anyway? You seem to be returning to your old annoying self again, which I suppose is a good thing.'

'I feel fine.' Kai shrugged, briefly meeting her eye contact. 'I guess the dark magic has finally left my system.'

'Just like that?'

He nodded. 'Just like that. Honestly, I feel fine.'

Bonnie squinted at him suspiciously, not completely convinced by his words. Instead of pushing it though, she merely nodded.

'If you're sure...'

'Look, down there. There's my town.' Kai pointed through the windscreen at a small cluster of houses in the distance completely surrounded by woodland and fields. 'Are you ready to finally get out of here, Bon-Bon?'

With a bright, determined grin, she nodded. 'Hell yeah I am. Lets do this.'


	11. Chapter 11

A/N - Apologies for my absence. Everything has been hectic recently and I've been too drained to write, but I'm back now.

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

* * *

The plane touched down moments later in one of the many fields surrounding Kai's house, wheels rolling to a stop mere meters away from a paddock. Bonnie eyed it curiously, pushing her door open and climbing out of the aircraft.

'You kept animals?'

Kai shut off the plane's engine and threw open his own door, half falling out of the damn thing. Quickly righting himself before she noticed, he shook his head at the quirky witch.

'We used to... For, uh, coven purposes, but then foxes came and killed them all.'

'Coven purposes? You don't mean-'

'Sacrifices. Rituals. Yeah,' Kai scrunched up his nose in disgust. 'My parents were very old fashioned when it came to spells, medicine and that sort of crap.'

Casting one final glance at the paddock, he turned away and made towards the steps leading up to the back door, nudging it open with one hand. 'C'mon. The ascendant is in here, in my father's study.'

He motioned for Bonnie to follow him and slipped through the door, entering into a large open planned kitchen. The witch blinked when she stepped into the room, not expecting everything to look so _normal. _The walls were covered in a pale yellow paint, chunks of which were missing in certain areas. The cabinets were a dull white with a tan worktop winding around three quarters of the room, like a snake. Smudges and fingerprints could be seen on some of the more easier to reach cupboards and Bonnie mildly wondered who they belonged to.

'Over here, Bon-Bon!' Kai was already on the other side of the kitchen, the back of his head disappearing around a corner. Bonnie followed quickly, not wanting to be left alone in the house, even if they _were_ the only ones there. The house felt off, cold, and the sooner they left, the better.

'Just need to remember the code.' Kai muttered to her, leaning down beside an oldish looking safe, one ear pressed against the cool metal. 'Come on, come on, come - Ah ha!' The lock clicked quietly and he shuffled backwards, using both hands to pry open the door.

Bonnie scooted forward, her eyes fixed on the object in front of her. As the door slowly swung open, she edged closer, a mixture of impatience and nervousness flooding through her entire body.

'There it is!' She squealed, one hand pointing at the perfectly intact device sitting on the middle shelf of the safe. 'We're free... We can go home now.' Moving both hands to her mouth, she suddenly burst into tears. After all the failures, all the disappointments, this was it. This was her ticket to sanity, to no longer being alone, and she sure as Hell wasn't going to let it slip away again.

'Grab it and lets go! The next eclipse is in a few hours.' She laughed loudly in relief, silently thanking all the Gods in the Universe.

Kai reached in and pulled out the ascendant, holding it in his hands as though it were a priceless treasure. Running the pad of his thumb over the smooth metal, he smiled to himself and then to Bonnie. 'This is it... We're finally going home.' He held the device out to her and stood up again, brushing off his trousers.

'Lets get out of dodge, Witchy. I want to see what 2015 is like.' Moving past her and out of the room, he checked his watch. They had less than two hours to find a place where the eclipse was directly above them. If they weren't fast enough, they wouldn't get another shot until tomorrow and neither of them were patient enough to wait for that, even if it was only another twenty four hours.

Bonnie unlocked the front door and stepped out into sunlight again, her gaze drifting towards the sky. 'Are there any caves or anything nearby?' She asked, safely slipping the ascendant into her hoodie pocket. It was actually Kai's hoodie, but she borrowed it a few weeks ago and didn't particularly feel like giving it back.

He never asked for it either.

'On the other side of these woods there's something. I used to play around there as a kid.' With a jerk of his head, he turned and walked towards the cluster of trees bordering the house, his hands stuffed deep within his pockets. He looked off, sad almost, and it confused her. Surely today was a _happy _day? She shook her head and trotted forward, falling into step beside him.

'What's wrong?' She asked, subconsciously checking that the ascendant was still safely in her pocket.

Kai shrugged before answering, his voice quiet. 'Are you going to tell them?'

'Tell who?'

'Damon. The others,' He frowned, remembering clear as day how much the vampire hated him, 'Are you going to tell them that I've changed?'

Bonnie paused in her tracks, her eyes firmly fixed on his. If he had asked her this a few weeks ago, she would have laughed in his face and told him he had more chance of Damon secretly being a virgin than of her saying anything _good _about him, but now? She had seen him change with her own eyes, Hell he even saved her life that time, even though it clearly messed him up inside. She cracked a small smile and nodded.

'I'll tell them the truth, I promise.'

Kai studied her expression for any hints of a lie before also smiling, his expression softening slightly. 'Thank you...'

'Don't go getting all sappy on me now, Mr, we're not home yet.' She nudged him in the ribs and ran off, crashing through the undergrowth like a hippo on crack. Laughing at her playfulness, Kai darted off after her, stumbling over tree roots and branches in his haste to keep up with the hyper witch. He could see glimpses of the caves through the trees and pushed himself to run faster, tripping over an invisible barrier and faceplanting the entrance, his head inches away from Bonnie's feet.

'Nice trip?' She said, her voice barely concealing the fact that she was smiling like the fucking Cheshire Cat right now.

'I just can't stop myself from falling for you.' Kai grumbled, spitting out a mouthful of dirt and standing up again. He shot the witch a halfhearted scowl before checking his watch again. 'We have twenty minutes. C'mon...'

Removing as much dirt and leaves from his body as possible, he grabbed her hand and pulled her into the caves, his body trembling when the temperature suddenly dropped. 'I forgot how cold it is in here.' He said with a grimace. 'I think there were bats as well. They always used to scare the crap out of me.'

Bonnie sniggered as an image of said bats chasing Kai appeared in her mind. 'I'm sorry, but that's adorable.'

'Shut up.'

Moments later they reached an area where the ceiling seemed thinner. Flecks of sunlight creeped through the gaps in the rock and bounced off the stone floor. Kai motioned for the ascendant and held it up in the air when Bonnie handed it over, moving around the cave until he found what he was looking for.

'Here,' He pointed at the spot he was standing on. 'This is the place. How long do we have?'

Bonnie checked her own watch, 'Five minutes.' Strolling over to where he was stood, she tilted her head towards the ceiling and muttered a spell under her breath, the rock above them exploding into a million pieces.

'Nice. Thanks.' Kai growled as the dirt and stone rained down on him. Bonnie merely chuckled.

'You can have a bath when we get home.' She grinned, reaching one hand out and holding half of the ascendant. Slicing the sharp metal edge against her palm, she dripped some of her blood onto the device.

'Will you be joining me?'

Her gaze lifted to his and she snorted, opening her mouth to reply when suddenly everything went dark.

'It's happening.' Kai commented, gripping his part of the device tightly. 'Lets go.'

Bonnie nodded and began chanting the spell, her eyes squinting shut as a bright white light filled up the cave around them. She couldn't see Kai, the eclipse, or even her own hands as the light intensified, forcing her to fully close her eyes. When she reopened them seconds later, she immediately knew that she was somewhere different. She was surrounded by trees instead of the caves, the night air smelt different and...

Kai wasn't there.


	12. Chapter 12

A/n: Hey. Uh, just to answer a few of the reviews, no I haven't abandoned this fic. It's my baby and I made a threat (yes, an actual threat) to myself to finish it. ^^ I usually post on the weekends, because I have more muse then, but if I get a random spurt of energy, it may be during the week instead. I purposely do small chapters so that it's a) easier to edit and b) easier to update more often. :)

I already have the last chapter of this planned and I'm so excited! Ahem. Anyway,

Enjoy.

Disclaimer: I only own my whacky plot, nothing else. If I owned the characters I would have already made them canon.

* * *

Kai opened his eyes as the light began to fade again, confusion lines settling onto his forehead as he realised he was still in the cave, though totally alone.

'Bonnie?' The ascendant had dropped to the floor in the process and as he bent down to pick it up, panic set in.

'Bonnie!'

'Do you really think I'd let you go back?'

Kai whirled around at the voice, its familiarity causing him to growl. Grams was stood at the cave's entrance, sunlight reflecting off her face, making her appear much younger than she actually was.

'I don't understand-'

Grams inched into the room, her expression hard as stone and showing absolutely no emotion. 'I told you to feel remorse, to give Bonnie a chance to go home.'

'I di-'

'No, you didn't,' She replied bluntly, cutting his sentence off with a wave of her hand. 'You don't need to pretend anymore. Bonnie has gone, you can cut the 'I care so much about her' crap now.'

Kai's eyes narrowed, the panic and shock turning into pure anger. 'I care about Bonnie more than you think!' He snarled, stalking towards her, 'I nearly _died_ to save her life!'

'You saved her because you needed her, no other reason.' Grams stood her ground, barely flinching at his rage.

'Is that what you believe? What she believes?'

Grams lifted a finger to silence him. 'Bonnie was your one way ticket out of here, you played her so you could leave. Am I wrong?'

'Yes! I -' He broke off, blinking rapidly. Was he really about to say the 'L' word? Did he even know what it_ meant_? 'Can you send her a message for me, please? I assume she managed to get home?'

Grams nodded. 'She's back where she belongs, just like you are.' She took a steady breath and continued, 'I can't communicate with the living, just the dead. Or in your case, the ones in limbo.'

'I need to go back, I need to show them all that I've changed. Please.'

'There's nothing I can do child, this is how it was meant to be.' She backed up into the shadows and smiled, a small trace of emotion on her lips. 'If you truly care about Bonnie, forget her. She's happy now, isn't that enough?'

She disappeared before he could answer and as he slumped against the dusty cave wall, he realized that he had never felt so alone before.

* * *

Bonnie trudged down the first road she found, eager to find a street sign or something to tell her where she was. Her mind spun as she walked, most of her thoughts floating back to Kai and the 1994 ghost world. _Where was he? Did he run away before she opened her eyes? _No, she would have heard him. _Was he still there, and if so, why hadn't he come back? _

A car's headlights appeared in the distance, shaking her from her thoughts. She needed to find help and she needed to go back to get him, somehow.

'What are you doing out here all alone?' The car had slowed down beside her, an elderly lady behind the wheel. 'It's not safe around here, dear, not with the recent attacks going on.'

Bonnie blinked, 'Attacks? What do you mean?'

'Animal attacks,' The woman put the car into neutral yet kept her hands tightly on the wheel, as though scared she might get ambushed any second now, 'Four campers have already been killed, ripped apart I heard.' She pulled a sympathetic face before continuing. 'What's your name, pet?'

'Bonnie. Bonnie, uh, Bennett.' She inwardly facepalmed when she remembered that she was supposed to be dead. 'Where am I?' She added quickly, eager to change the subject.

The woman studied her for a second, 'A few miles away from Mystic Falls, but surely you _knew _that?'

Silence.

'Um... Could you take me to Whitmore College please?' Bonnie asked quietly, casually ignoring the woman's question, 'My friends are probably worried about me.'

More silence followed Bonnie's question before the woman finally nodded, unlocking the passenger door. 'Get in, and quickly.'

Bonnie edged around the car and climbed in, buckling up her seat belt as soon as she sat down. Her eyes flicked to the car's radio system before moving around the interior of the car. Everything looked, and smelt, like new. 'What year is it?'

'It's brand new, dear. From the 2015 range.' She patted the wheel affectionately, 'Cost me a bloody arm and a leg but my husband recently left, so I'm treating myself to life's luxuries.'

Shifting awkwardly in her seat, Bonnie asked, 'Did he die?'

The woman chuckled and shook her head, 'Unfortunately, no, he didn't,' She put the car into drive and continued on down the road, 'He left me. Found himself a younger woman and just disappeared in the middle of the night,' Tsking under her breath, she turned the dial on the radio down, her eyes fixed on the road straight ahead of her, 'That's men for you though, I guess. They get what they want from you and then leave.'

Bonnie didn't know what to say, so she kept quiet instead, internally wishing she just walked back to town.

'Do you have a boyfriend, dear?' The other woman asked, clearly oblivious to Bonnie's discomfort.

'Uh.' Fidgeting around in her seat again, Bonnie gave a halfhearted shrug, 'It's complicated.' She said finally, turning to gaze out of the window. She hadn't even thought about Jeremy since Kai walked into her life, and even then, when the woman asked her about a boyfriend, her mind went to Kai instead of Jer. _It's complicated_ sure was an understatement for the situation she was in.

'We're here,' The woman said with a smile, slowing down outside the main double doors belonging to Whitmore College. The car purred quietly as Bonnie unfastened her seat belt, suddenly nervous to be home again.

'Thank you, uh...?'

'Heather, dear. My name is Heather.'

'Well thank you, Heather, I really appreciate this.' With a final smile, Bonnie turned and headed up the main steps, shoving the double doors open with both hands. Cool air hit her in the face and she sagged slightly in exhaustion. All she wanted right now, was her dorm bed and a cold drink.

She took the stairs two at a time, trudging up to the second floor where her room was. Pausing outside with her hand on the doorknob, Bonnie took a deep breath, mentally preparing herself for what was inside. Nudging the door open, she peered around the edge and froze.

'Bonnie?'

'Elena-'

The vampire blurred across the room and engulfed her in a huge hug before she could say another word.

'You're back!' Elena squealed, loosening her grip a little and leaning back to take in Bonnie's face, 'How? Why? What happened?!'

She threw question after question at her friend, but Bonnie had one of her own, 'Where's Damon?'

The vampire furrowed her brows in confusion before finally understanding, 'He just got back from Oregon a few hours ago, he went to get the ascendant or whatever to bring you home.'

Bonnie's eyes widened, 'He has it?'

'Yeah, he refused to leave until he had it,' Elena smiled, finally releasing her hold on the witch, 'He really missed you, Bon, he's been nothing but obsessed with finding a way to bring you home.'

'I - I need to see him, but not now,' Bonnie shuffled across the room, falling face first onto her bed with a weary sigh, 'I really want to sleep now.'

Elena nodded and moved towards the door, 'I'll be back in a few hours, okay?'

* * *

Bonnie was asleep within seconds, barely hearing Elena close the door as she left. She slipped straight into a dream, appearing back at the Salvatore boarding house in 1994. Kai was there, in his normal spot on the couch. When he saw Bonnie, he stood up, his eyes widening.

'You're here. How can you be here? You left, I saw you,' His eyes narrowed, an accusing stare being sent towards the witch, 'You _left _me, and you promised... You promised you wouldn't.'

'I don't understand...' She replied, wrapping her arms around herself. For a dream, this felt oddly real and the guilt soon began creeping in, 'I'll find a way to bring you back, you know I will.'

'Do I?' Kai turned away from her and began pacing up and down the living room floor, clearly restless, 'You have nothing to come back for.'

'I have you.'

His expression softened for a moment before quickly hardening again, as though he just couldn't bring himself to believe her, 'I can't leave, Bonnie, they won't let me.'

'I told you, I'll find a way.' She unwrapped her arms, dropping them to her sides with a firm nod, 'No matter what it takes.'

The world around her began to blur and she knew she was being woken up. Everything faded to grey and she felt herself being pulled away again. However before it all disappeared, she called out, hoping he would hear,

'Don't give up on me!'


	13. Chapter 13

**A/n: Sorry for taking so long to update. Life kept me stupidly busy.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own anything.**

**Warnings: Mild swearing.**

* * *

The person shaking her awake wasn't Caroline, as Bonnie had first thought, but a raven haired Salvatore instead, his blue eyes wide with excitement.

'I thought Elena was lying, or hallucinating.' He cast a glance at the vampire beside him, who simply scowled back. 'Guess not.'

Bonnie slowly pushed herself into a sitting position, the remnants of last night's dream still lingering at the front of her mind, 'Damon?'

'The one and only.' He shot her his signature cheeky grin and huffed in surprise when she leaped out of bed and into his arms, her legs tightly wrapped around his middle.

'I missed you.' She mumbled into his shoulder, and it was true, she had. More than anything. Taking a deep breath, she inhaled his scent, almost instinctively relaxing against his chest. 'And your stupid pancakes.'

Damon's grin widened at her words, his hands slipping under her legs to hold her up, 'I told you you'd miss my amazing cooking.'

'If you can call it that...' She grinned back, clinging to him like a koala.

'Back one day and you're already being mean to me,' He sniffed jokingly and set her down on the bed again, struggling slightly to remove her arms from around his neck, 'Speaking of which, how _did _you get back anyway?'

Pushing a loose strand of hair behind her ear, Bonnie shuffled backwards to lean against the headboard, 'Duplicate ascendants.' She blinked when everyone merely looked confused and sighed, 'The ghost world is like a loop, right? Every day is a new day, so if you eat or move something, it'll return again the next day.'

'Like with your crossword puzzles.' Damon mused, scratching his head, 'Every day there was a fresh paper.'

'Exactly,' Bonnie nodded, 'Kai had the original ascendant, which broke when you left, so another took its place. We went to Oregon, got the replacement ascendant and I was able to come home.'

'We?' The elder Salvatore asked, one dark brow perking up, 'Did CrazyPyscho go with you?'

The witch sat up a little straighter and nodded, her gaze glued to his, 'He - um - helped me.'

Silence fell in the room and Bonnie only just noticed that Alaric, Stefan and Enzo were in the dorm as well, all three of whom were hanging back in the shadows, as though trying to blend in with the faded wallpaper.

'What did he want from you?' Damon asked, 'Some of your precious Bennett blood and a ticket to freedom?'

'He...' She hesitated, wondering how best to continue. 'He wanted to come back with me.'

'I bet he did,' Damon frowned, 'He wanted nothing more than to break free while I was there. That kid needs a new hobby, or to give up. He isn't going to do a Houdini, there's no escape. Not for him, anyway.'

Bonnie swallowed but decided against arguing, knowing that it would do no good. Her friends wouldn't understand the complicated relationship she and Kai had if it slapped them in the face, and to be brutally honest, she couldn't blame them. Thinking of Kai made her think of someone else, someone a little closer to home.

'Is Jeremy around?' She asked, her attention turning to Elena now. 'I need to see him.'

'He's probably asleep on the couch at the Lockwood mansion, he prefers it there to here,' Alaric cut in, stepping forward so that Bonnie could see him better, 'He and Matt are turning into Xbox hermits.'

'He's struggling,' Elena added, grimacing slightly, 'He's finding it hard to cope without you and-'

'And you should probably go talk to him.' Damon interrupted, shooting the vampire a warning glare. 'Anyway, you should get some more sleep. We'll leave you alone for a bit.'

He began shooing everyone out of the room, turning around only once he reached the door himself, 'Welcome home, Bon-Bon, I'm _really _glad you're back. Hopefully now we can all start afresh, yeah?'

Bonnie merely nodded, unsure of how to respond. She dropped her head onto the pillow and instantly fell asleep again, no traces of Kai in her dreams this time.

* * *

'What was that look for, Damon?' Elena hissed, pulling him to a stop just outside Whitmore. The others hesitated but she simply waved a hand, silently telling them that this conversation was private and unsuitable for vampire eavedroppers.

'Bonnie has only just returned, Elena. Do you really want to tell her that your _brother _is off having one night stands with people who look a lot like her? Yeah, that's an _awesome_ welcome home present.'

'She needs to know.'

Damon folded his arms over his chest, 'Not tonight. Let her sleep, let her see him tomorrow and let _him _tell her himself. She's changed, she's strong and fierce and she can handle herself.'

'Fine.' She pursed her lips. 'Do you think she's okay though? After all that happened with Kai?'

'Honestly, I don't know. He drove me insane and I wasn't there alone with him. God knows how she coped without losing her sanity.'

Elena sat down on one of the steps and sighed, 'What if she has though?'

'I don't understand.' He dropped down onto a step beside her, only just realizing that they haven't been properly alone since he first returned. He'd been obsessing over getting Bonnie back for so long that he never asked her what was going on with them. Now, however, wasn't the time to bring up such a subject so he pushed away the slight uneasiness flowing through him and turned his full attention to his 'it's complicated' girlfriend.

'She was stuck there alone with him, right? What if she has some sort of weird Stockholm syndrome with him?'

Damon blinked, 'I still don't think I'm on the same page as you. What are you getting at?'

Rolling her eyes, Elena elbowed him in the ribs, 'She could be _connected _to him. Didn't you smell it?'

'Scrap that, we're on completely different _books_.' He snorted, peering up at the sky. 'I don't really go around smelling people, Elena, I'm _normal ..._Ish.'

Fighting back the urge to pull out her own hair, Elena continued, 'Bonnie smelt like _guy. _And it was a fresh scent.' She raised her brows at him, hoping he would finally understand, 'How did Kai get close enough to have his scent on her?'

'More importantly, why are you sniffing your friends?'

'I'm a vampire.' She replied, as though the answer was blatantly obvious.

'So am I but you don't see me sniffing Enzo.' He blinked, looking completely confused. 'But back to Kai, maybe he was trying to kill her again and they... rubbed together?'

'Maybe...'

'You don't sound too convinced.' He muttered quietly.

She shrugged, 'We don't know what happened with them, that's all. And did you see any injuries or bruises on her? Because I didn't.'

Damon opened and closed his mouth several times like a goldfish before finally saying, 'Bonnie wouldn't go near him. He's an asshole.'

'So was that _your_ hoodie she was wearing?'

Completely mindfucked now, Damon stared at her, wide eyed. 'We both know I don't even _wear _hoodies.'

'Exactly. Something happened over there, Damon, and we need to find out what.'

The older Salvatore continued to look utterly confused, a headache forming the size of Texas as he tried to process what was happening. 'How did you even notice that? She was _hugging_ me and I didn't even pick up on it.'

Elena chuckled, 'You're as observant as a slug, that's why. You don't notice the important things.'

'Are you implying something?' He asked, arching a slightly suspicious brow.

'No, of course not. But we do need to ask her about what happened over there.'

'Why? She's back now. Can't we all just live happily ever after and forget about him?' He stood up again and stretched his arms out, needing a stiff drink or two after tonight's revelations.

'She's our _friend _and it's important, to her and us.' Also standing, Elena stared at him, her eyes narrowed. 'I thought you cared about her?'

'I do care about her! That's why I don't want to drag up the past when it no longer matters.' He hissed, glancing around to check that they were totally alone. 'Kai's gone, okay? She's never going to see him again so whatever happened between them is _over.'_

Elena stayed silent for a moment before slowly nodding, 'I really hope you're right, because this feels more like the beginning of something than the end.'


	14. Chapter 14

**A/n: Apologies for late update. New job is sapping my energy. Grr.**

**Disclaimer: All I own is the plot, nothing else.**

* * *

Kai was beyond fed up.

Loneliness was beginning to creep in again and Gram's words spun around his mind, refusing to give him a break. After flying back to Mystic Falls, he torched the Salvatore Boarding house to the ground, not particularly giving a damn if it came back the next day or not. Entering that house without Bonnie was impossible, and he didn't want a constant reminder of what he had lost every day. So he lit a match and threw it onto the frayed and dusty rug that he had always secretly loathed, and watched in mild satisfaction as the entire front room went up in flames.

Half of him was tempted to step into the fire and attempt to kill himself for the millionth time, but he knew it would just be pointless. And painful. Dying wouldn't be his escape, not now or ever.

He needed a new plan, one he hadn't yet tried. Flopping down onto the grassy driveway, he placed both hands behind him and leaned backwards, face tilted towards the sky. A tingle caused his left hand to twitch and he momentarily thought it was bugs, the feeling similar to that of a spider walking across his fingers, before remembering that he was totally alone. There_ were _no bugs, or any other type of animal in the prison world. Just him.

Putting it down to the heat from the fire affecting him, he quickly forgot about the strange tingling sensation.

Until it happened again, this time more powerful.

'What the?' He muttered, lifting his hand up to inspect the skin. As soon as he broke contact from the ground, the tingling stopped. 'I'm losing my freaking mind now. Stupid Bonnie.'

He lay his hand back down with a huff and growled in annoyance when it started again. 'What is going _on?'_

And then it hit him, all at once, like a tsunami. The hand that was tingling was the hand he had held on Bonnie when he removed the Dark magic from her. He thought he was fine again, but obviously some side effect was still giving him grief. Curling his fingers around a clump of grass, he silently willed the feeling to go away, pushing it towards the ground he was holding. A startled yelp escaped him as his fingers were literally _burned. _A small ring of fire surrounded him, the flames only a few inches tall.

His eyes widened at the sight, more confused than ever. 'I have magic... _How _do I have magic?'

He blinked, his mind working overtime to try and put all the pieces together. 'I'm siphoning magic, but from where?' His gaze scanned around at the very world he lived in, suddenly understanding. 'This entire Universe is made from magic. Somehow I'm able to tap into that magic and use it. _Shit. __Shit. Shit.__'_

Jumping to his feet, he quickly stuffed his hands into his pockets. If he used too much magic the entire world could collapse, and then where would he go?

'I need... Grams! Where are you? I know you're always watching me. I can feel it.'

Turning slowly on the spot, he found her just inside the wooded area behind the Salvatore house, her eyes on the burning building.

'A few hours without Bonnie and you're already falling apart. How... Cute.' She observed, the orange glow in her pupils somehow making her appear more sinister. Stepping forward, she turned her gaze from the house to Kai himself, 'What do you want? I'm not your little pet.'

'I can do magic.' Gram's brow rose at this, but he quickly continued before she could comment, '_How _am I suddenly able to siphon magic?'

Instead of answering directly, Gram's smiled slyly.

'What? What is it?'

Smiling even more, she motioned towards the house. 'The Universe works in funny ways, doesn't it?'

Kai blinked, silently questioning her sanity. Maybe being dead had taken some of it away.

'You saved Bonnie and in return she changed you, in more ways than one. That dark magic that you took from her is still inside of you, just _waiting _to be used.'

'So I can now do magic? All the time?'

Grams shook her head. 'You have a certain amount stored up inside of you, but once it's gone, it's gone. Dark magic isn't like the normal stuff, if you don't use it, it'll will use _you.'_

_'_I don't follow.'

Sighing, Grams sat down on the grass. 'There's three types of magic, see? Normal magic, which all witches have. Magic that can be pulled out of the ground, which is used mostly for medicines and healing properties, and Dark magic. Using Dark magic is forbidden because it demands to be used, it wants more. It _always _wants more.'

Kai moved to sit beside her. 'My father said that all magic is necessary, that as a coven we need to be able to harness it in case any threats appear.'

'Your father, please don't be offended, is an idiot. The Gemini coven is powerful, granted, but some of your practices are _wrong. _Merging, killing siblings, making parallel worlds, it's all wrong in the eyes of nature.'

Kai dropped his eyes to the ground and said nothing.

'I wanted Bonnie to be the best she could be, using only good magic. I wanted her to be strong and capable, without needing any _vampires _to protect her.'

'She _is _strong. She would be a good coven leader one day.' Kai said with a small grin.

'Maybe she could lead yours.' Grams nudged, turning her eyes back towards the fire. 'It could do great things with an un-corrupted leader, don't you think?'

'No doubt about that, she would be amazing. But my father -'

'Your father needs to stand down, Malachai. The Gemini coven is the biggest band of witches on the West coast and under his rule they're slowly falling into disarray. You saved Bonnie, you showed that you care about things other than yourself. You and Bonnie need to sort the witch world out. I've seen you both together, you're like two peas in a pod. You're in sync with each other and I believe you can do amazing things, if you want to.'

Processing her words, Kai slowly nodded, 'So you're saying I should challenge my father as leader?'

'Exactly, but don't kill anyone this time.'

He coughed to hide a snort. 'I understand, kinda. But how do I get out of here?'

Chuckling, Grams stood up. 'You have dark magic flowing through you. Put it to good use.' She cocked her head to one side. 'Rules are made to be broken, dear. But do one thing for me, please?'

Kai nodded, also rising to his feet. 'Anything.'

'Get Bonnie away from the vampires. I know they're meant to be her friends and all but they'll always use her for their own gain, and she has a bigger destiny than that. They're the reason she was dead in the first place, and she deserves _a lot_ better.'

'She deserves the world, but I don't understand. Why are you helping me? You hated me when we first met, didn't you?'

'You've proved yourself and secretly, I don't think you're a terrible person. Your father, yes. You? No. You've changed, I've seen it. Now you need to do the right thing, by your coven and by Bonnie. There's always time to make things right, Malachai.'

And with that, she disappeared.

* * *

Kai was in Bonnie's dream again that night. He wore his usual hoodie and shorts and looked happier than the last time they dream-met. His eyes shone with obvious excitement, though his expression softened when he saw her. Moving forward, he took her hands in his and gripped them tightly.

'I have a plan, Bon-Bon. I have a way to get out of here, without the ascendant.' He could barely keep the grin from his face and Bonnie couldn't help but smile in return. 'We'll be together again soon, I promise.'

'I miss you,' She murmured, closing the gap between them both and pressing her body up against his. 'The others don't understand, they want me to just forget about _this. _But I can't, I don't want to.'

Pressing his forehead against hers, Kai closed his eyes with a sigh. 'They'll never understand, Bonnie. They don't care enough to try.'

'But I do,' He added, 'I care about you, and us, and I'm going to prove it, okay?'

She nodded slowly, dipping her head down to rest her ear against his chest, listening to his heartbeat. 'Is there anything I can do?'

'Actually, there is. Pack a bag Bon-Bon and be ready to leave town.'

'Why?'

'We're going to visit my Father.'


	15. Chapter 15

**A/N: So I just figured out how I'm going to end this story and I'm _excited _as hell. There will be a time skip and you'll see why when it's done. Mwah.**

**But that's not for another twenty odd chapters.**

**And don't even talk to me about the finale. Grr. Grrr.**

**Disclaimer: I don't get any money for this fic, just a small sense of satisfaction.**

* * *

Bonnie was onto Damon as soon as she woke up the next morning, a sense of determination fresh in her mind. She didn't know if the dreams were real or just her subconscious secretly longing for the little psychopath. All she knew was that she needed to see Kai again, and soon.

Flying down the hallway of Whitmore, she barely had time to look up from her phone when she crashed straight into another person, rebounding backwards and clumsily hitting the stone wall behind her. A frustrated groan faded away into nothing when she saw who it was she just hit.

'Jeremy? What are you doing here?'

The youngest Gilbert straightened up and flicked the hair from his eyes, barely blinking as he drank in the sight of her. He seemed speechless for a moment before finally managing to utter a few words,

'You're really back...'

'I am. Obviously.' She fidgeted from foot to foot, something Jeremy didn't seem to notice. Bonnie had barely thought about her 'it's complicated' boyfriend since she returned, her mind already fully taken by Kai, and seeing him now didn't trigger any old feelings. In fact it had the opposite effect, she knew then and there that she was over him.

Guilt flitted through her at the realisation, had she cheated on him? She didn't mean to. She didn't ask to have feelings for Kai, they just... happened.

'Elena told me this morning, but I wanted to see for myself. And it's true.' He stared at her. 'It's all true.'

Bonnie just nodded, giving him a weak smile.

'I missed you so much, Bon-Bon.' He continued, taking a hesitant step forward, a frown creasing his forehead when she moved backwards away from him.

'I'm sorry Jer, but I can't do this, not now.'

She visibly flinched when his expression morphed from confusion to pure hurt, his head drooping slightly. 'If this is because of what happened whilst you were... gone, I can explain. I swear.'

She blinked. 'Wait. What happened?'

* * *

Kai flew back to Oregon that afternoon.

He needed to find out more about Dark magic before he attempted to break free, in case it had any nasty side effects. He knew Grams was right, he _had _changed. But would that much power change him back, or make him worse? A small part of him wanted the power, wanted to go back and kill his father, claim the coven as his, as it should be.

Hesitating with his hand on the handle of his father's office door, Kai paused.

Bonnie would never look at him again if he did, he would truly lose her and everything they have together. Was the power worth that? His mind said no, but the magic brewing up inside of him said _yes. _

Forcing the uneasy feelings away, he slipped into the office, shuffling over to a bookshelf and pulling out the largest book he could find. Its spine was completely blank and un-telling. He only knew what the contents contained because of his childhood days, where he would sneak into his father's office and read everything he could about magic. His father removed the cover from this particular book to try and deter Kai from reading it, but that had epically failed. It only made Kai more curious, and as a result he knew more about the different types of magic than his siblings ever did.

But still not enough to attempt the serious stuff himself. Setting the ascendant that he carried everywhere down on the old oak desk, he flopped into his father's chair and began reading.

_**'Dark magic was banned from use in 1603, after a coven of witches used it to torture an entire town, causing the inhabitants to go mad and turn on each other. The witches in question had their powers removed and were swiftly sent to Hell, where it is said they remain today, their souls nothing but a blackened shell that is beyond repair.'**_

Swallowing, Kai moved his eyes further down the page.

**_'He who wields Dark magic can achieve anything, even if it is seen morally wrong or unjust by others. The world, and Universe, would belong to the person who held the abomination magic in their hands, causing them to go savage with a hunger that could never be satisfied. Dark magic needs to be in control and would often 'possess' the host in order to be used, often leaving them for dead and moving onto another victim once they become useless to it. Dark magic cannot die, it simply jumps from body to body. The only way to remove Dark magic from your body is to make it manifest itself and fight it head on. Love, kindness and happiness are toxic to Dark magic, and as such, it will slowly remove them from your entire being, making you an emotionless slav-_**

Kai slammed the book shut and set it to one side, his hands trembling. How did Bonnie even _know_ about Dark magic in the first place? It was unnerving to him that she was so desperate to leave she conjured up the devil himself in magical form.

And now it was in him. Just waiting to be used.

'Thanks Bonnie.' He muttered before remembering that it was he who willingly tried to save her life. Attachment had made him a fool and he was now severely paying for it.

Plucking up the ascendant, he held it tightly in one hand, the metal edges cutting into his skin and drawing blood, which slowly seeped onto the face of the device. The ascendant was the key, the portal between this world and the 'real' one. He wasn't going to _use_ the key to get out though, that wasn't his style.

He was going to break free and take the entire prison world with him.

'Okay Demon magic, lets do this shit.' Curling his fingers tightly around the device, he conjured up as much Dark magic as he could control and forced it down his arm and into the ascendant. The magic flowed through him as though it had always belonged there, using his veins as its own personal mode of transport to get around his body. He felt his hand begin to tingle again and concentrated harder, a startled gasp leaving his lips as the metal burned beneath his touch, the ends curling upwards as bits started falling away.

The entire ascendant was shrinking in on itself, turning into nothing but a ball of molten metal in the palm of his hand. He hastily dropped it to the floor once the temperature became too much and blinked in surprise as the ground around the glowing blob caught fire as well, bursting outwards and eating everything in its sight, including him.

Blackness consumed him and he fell like a stone, fully expecting to hit the floor soon and burn in a fiery death.

But death never came, instead he kept falling and falling.

* * *

Kai woke up a while later, disoriented as Hell but still alive. At least he _felt _alive. Lifting his head from the patch of dirt it was currently resting on, he wearily scanned his surroundings. He didn't know where he was, but one thing was for sure, he _wasn't _in his father's house, or Oregon for that matter.

Something caught his attention and he squinted in concentration, trying to hear it better.

Birds. He could hear birds in the trees, tweeting to each other. And further in the distance a rustling, maybe a deer. Relief flooded through him and he quickly pushed himself to his feet, brushing away any dirt on his clothes before beginning to walk in a random direction. His mind worked hard to process everything and he only snapped out of his thoughts when a bright light and horribly loud horn distracted him.

'Get out of the road, asshole!' The irritated driver growled, edging his car forward to try and nudge Kai out of the way. '_Some _of us have places to be.'

Kai blinked, 'Where am I?'

The driver threw open his door and climbed out, momentarily forgetting to unbuckle his seat belt. He wrestled to free himself from the restraints for a few seconds before finally stomping around the front of his car and coming face to face with Kai. 'I don't know what drugs you're on, kid, but this is your last chance. _Move.'_

Instead of doing what he was told, Kai simply stared blankly. 'Or what?'

'Or _this.' _The man pulled his fist back and aimed directly at Kai's jaw. A howl of pain soon left the guy's lips as his entire wrist snapped backwards, pieces of bone breaking through the skin and glittering in the moonlight.

'That looks painful.' Kai commented, the corners of his lips curling up into a smirk. 'You should go get it checked out.'

'What did you do to me?' The man grunted breathlessly, holding his broken arm against his chest as he slowly backed towards his car again. '_How _did you do that?'

Kai simply grinned.

'Magic.'

Turning away, he strode back down the road, keeping beneath the streetlights. He could hear the man cursing and yelling behind him, but he didn't turn or respond. He was home, that's all he cared about right now. He needed to find Bonnie and then his father.

His time to become coven leader had finally arrived.


	16. Chapter 16

**A/n: I'm hoping to get this finished by Christmas Day, for reasons I can't tell you. Ahem. **

**Disclaimer: Nothing belongs to me. *Sobs***

* * *

'_There_ you are.'

Damon lifted his head, blinking out of whatever thoughts were currently clouding his mind, and stared up at the person speaking to him. His heart sank slightly when he saw who it was, his hand instinctively tightening around the glass he was holding.

'You're never far away from alcohol.'

Sitting down opposite him, Bonnie forced an overly fake smile onto her face. 'Lucky for me, huh?'

'Extremely lucky.' Damon replied glumly.

'If I didn't know better, I would say you were avoiding me.' She rested her elbows on the table and fixed him with a cool stare. 'But you wouldn't do that, would you?'

Damon blinked. 'Is something troubling you, Bon-Bon?' He had indeed been avoiding her, but she didn't need to know that, not with the foul mood she was currently in. So he, being the smart vampire that he was, went for innocence instead.

Which failed. Terribly.

'_Jeremy_.' She hissed.

'Ah... Well... I um...'

'Why didn't you tell me?'

Gulping down the last bit of his drink, Damon quickly ran one hand through his hair. 'You haven't been back long... And I didn't want to, uh, upset you.' He nodded briskly, as though trying to convince himself as well as her. 'I thought you were over him anyway?'

'When did I say that?'

'Don't you remember? We got drunk one night and played truth or dare...' He trailed off, relaxing slightly as her expression changed from extremely murderous to just pissed off.

'Shit, that. Yeah okay, you got me.' Calling a waiter over, Bonnie ordered a vodka and coke. 'But still, we're not meant to be keeping stuff from each other. You _promised.'_

Damon huffed. 'How was I meant to tell you that your on-off boyfriend was shacking up with your lookalike? That's weird, even for me.'

The waiter returned with Bonnie's drink, setting it down on the table before lingering beside her.

'What? Do you want a tip or something?' Damon said with a smirk, his cockiness immediately dropping when the man smirked back, his eyes glinting.

Bonnie shifted her own attention to the guy and felt her mouth drop open.

'Kai?'

Kai grinned brightly and spun the tray he was holding around in his hands, bringing it down on Damon's head with enough force to knock him out. He bent down to better admire his work before giving Bonnie a wide smile.

'Hey babe.'

Shoving Damon from his chair and onto the floor, he sat down, calling over a real waiter and ordering himself a coke. 'I did _not _miss this douchebag.' He jerked his head towards the vampire's limp form. 'And he obviously didn't miss me either. Asshole.'

Bonnie simply blinked, completely lost for words. Her eyes roamed over his body, drinking in every small inch of him again before she suddenly lunged, throwing herself across the table and into his lap. Clinging on for dear life, she looped her arms around his neck and pulled him closer, his familiar scent causing her heart to skip a beat, or two.

'Bonnie...' Kai murmured, burying his face into her hair, his eyes closing in pure bliss. The earlier thrill he had at getting back at Damon faded away as all the old and familiar feelings for the little witch in his arms came flooding back. Even the Darkness inside of him lay dormant, for now.

Curling her fingers into the hair at the nape of his neck, Bonnie dragged Kai towards her even more and attacked his lips in a fierce and passionate kiss. He responded without a moment's hesitation, his mouth moving in perfect sync with hers and instantly claiming dominance. Slipping his hands up under her shirt, he un-clipped her bra, causing a soft moan of longing to leave her lips.

He was so painfully turned on by now that he wanted, no _needed, _to have her. Screw being in public, he didn't care. And judging by the way her body reacted against his, she didn't give a damn either. It had been too long, way too long, and the only thing keeping him from ripping her shirt off and having her on the nearest table was his promise to himself to be more of a gentleman around her.

A promise he was _really_ struggling to keep right now, especially as Bonnie had now moved her lips to his collarbone and was sucking on a sweet spot. He tilted his head back to give her better access and groaned quietly. His eyes almost rolled all the way upwards into his skull as the amazing sensations shot through his body at her mere touch. She was his weakness, anyone with half a brain cell could see that, but Kai didn't care. He would roll over like a puppy if she asked him to, and gaze up at her with nothing but adoration whilst doing so.

'I'm missing something, aren't I?'

Bonnie tore her lips away from him at the voice and turned her gaze to the floor, her face flush with a mixture of excitement and sheepishness. 'Damon! You're, uh, awake.'

Kai took longer to come down from his recent high, and as he reluctantly forced his eyes open again, he stared at Damon with a hint of raw frustration. 'Way to kill the mood, mate.' He growled.

The vampire ignored him, staring hard at Bonnie instead. 'Please tell me this is just a hallucination? Please... Because the alternative is...' He broke off, unable to finish his sentence. His face had turned rather pale, with a tinge of green, and it amused Kai to no end.

'It's not a hallucination.' She said, fidgeting around awkwardly in Kai's lap. The effect wasn't helping him behave and he growled softly in her ear as a warning.

Damon picked up on the sound plus Bonnie's red face and internally groaned, lifting himself to his feet. 'We need to talk about this, Bon-Bon. Without Sir. Smirk-A-Lot watching us.'

'I'm not leaving him.' She responded, finding one of Kai's hands and gripping it tightly. 'You'll attempt to hurt him, I know you.'

'Damn right I will. He's a _murderer, _Bonnie. He shouldn't even be here.'

Bonnie glared and stood up, stepping over to the vampire and prodding him in the chest. '_You're _a murderer too, Damon, and I managed to forgive you for all the shit you pulled on me and my friends.'

Damon opened his mouth to argue before sensibly deciding against it, his expression softening a little. 'I'm not leaving you alone with him, Bon-Bon. I can't, I'm sorry but I don't trust him.'

'I spent months alone with him already, remember? And we were _fine.'_

'That was different and you know it. He needed you alive to get out of that Hell hole, and now that he's back he has no reason not to kill you.' The vampire folded his arms over his chest and glared at Kai. 'You can't honestly trust him?'

With a firm nod, the witch stepped backwards again. 'I do, I trust him. He saved my life in that prison world, he put me _first _for once, instead of using me as a magical object, like you and the others do.'

Kai gave her hand a reassuring squeeze, his gaze turning towards Damon. 'I don't want to hurt her... More the opposite.' He swallowed and continued. 'I love her, Damon, and I'm not here to cause trouble.'

'Why _are _you here, anyway? And more importantly, how did you get out without the ascendant?' The elder Salvatore asked, his tone still icy cold around the other man. 'Because you would have needed magic, and aren't you like... an abomination?'

Kai flinched at the 'a' word, but continued to stare Damon down, a slight smile curling onto his lips.

'I _have _magic.'


	17. Chapter 17

**A/n: Sorry for the super long absence, work totally drained my muse. But I'm back now. :) Apologies for this chapter being so short, it's just a build up for the next one. **

**Disclaimer: As always, nothing belongs to me.**

**Ship: BonKai**

**Oh and thank you for all the reviews, feedback etc. It means a lot to me.**

* * *

After Kai's little magic revelation, Damon decided that he needed some time to himself to clear his head, leaving Bonnie and the ex-psychopath alone for a while. He had offered to call Elena or Caroline for moral support but Bonnie stubbornly refused, secretly wanting Kai to herself for an hour or two before World War Three broke out, which it would. She liked the calm before the storm feeling, and didn't want to waste it. Besides, she still had her own questions.

Leading him out of the bar, she found an empty bench and plopped down onto it, her eyes firmly fixed on the man beside her. 'How did you get out?' She asked, the curiosity almost driving her insane.

Pacing back and forth in front of her, Kai furrowed his brows, wondering how best to answer. 'I broke the prison world and luckily landed here instead of Hell.'

'Broke it?'

He nodded, kicking at a stone. 'Remember when you tried to use Dark Magic and I saved you? Well it seems to still be inside of me, giving me the power to generate my own magic now.'

Bonnie's features morphed from curiosity to obvious horror, her eyes widening. 'You still have Dark Magic? It hasn't left yet?' She ran a hand through her hair in agitation and continued before he could reply, 'This is _bad, _that stuff is banned in the real world. If someone catches you...'

'I'll be killed,' Kai cut in, frowning at her. 'I know, Bon-Bon, I thought I would do a little research before I used it to bust myself out of limbo, and that little piece of information cropped up like a glitter covered red flag.'

Silence fell between them for a long moment, neither knowing quite what to say.

'I'm so sorry,' Bonnie said finally, dropping her gaze to the floor. 'I never wanted this to happen to you.' She fell silent again before returning her eyes to him. 'I'll help you get rid of it, we'll do it together. I'm not letting you die again, not on my watch.' She gritted her teeth together in determination and Kai felt himself melt inside. The little witch was a fighter and it was one of the reasons he loved her so much.

He sat down beside her and gripped her hand tightly in his. 'I can't... Not yet. There's something I need to do first, something important.'

She blinked. 'I don't understand, do you _want _to die? Did you kill yourself so many times in the prison world that death doesn't faze you anymore?'

'No, but I need this magic, Bonnie. I need it to take on my father. Remember what I said in the dreams? I'm claiming the coven back, I'm making it mine. He's running it into the ground and _someone _needs to stop him before there isn't a coven left.'

Bonnie flicked her gaze from his to his hand holding hers, and back again. 'But this will _destroy _you. Is the coven worth that? Honestly?'

Kai chewed on his lower lip as he thought about her question, eventually nodding slowly. 'Yeah it is, these people need a proper leader. Someone they can look up to and trust.'

'And you think that's you? The guy who murdered his own siblings in cold blood?'

'The old me was a self absorbed sociopath, Bonnie. He didn't care about _anything, _only himself. I care. I care about you, I care about the coven and its future.' He paused, 'I want you to help me, Bon-Bon. Think of all the stuff we could achieve together.'

Was he saying what Bonnie thought he was saying? Did he really want her by his side? As what, though? A friend, girlfriend? Or maybe more. A vision of her and Kai, in the big white house his father owned, with little versions of the sociopath running around suddenly clouded her mind and she felt her cheeks burn furiously.

Kai stared at her with a bemused expression on his face, one brow raised in curiosity. 'Something wrong?'

'No! No... I was just thinking.' She tugged on the ends of her hair and shot him an overly sweet smile, her face still warm. 'I'll do it, but only because your coven deserves better. And I think it's what Grams would have wanted.'

Kai smiled knowingly and murmured. 'It is.'

* * *

As expected, Bonnie's friends didn't take the news of her leaving so well.

'But we've _only _just got you back!' Caroline argued, her hands firmly on her hips. 'You can't just _leave _again. Especially not with him.'

Elena nodded her support at Caroline's words, her eyes watching Bonnie with obvious concern and a hint of suspicion, too. 'What if he hurts you again, Bonnie? We can't trust him.'

'I trust him.' The witch replied bluntly. 'And this is about more than just Kai, it's also about an innocent coven being run into the ground by a psychopath. You're both vampires, so it's not important to you. But to me, it is. I was purposely sent to his world, remember? What if this is the reason why?'

She didn't bother telling her friends about the Dark Magic lurking inside of Kai, for it would grant her a one way ticket to the Salvatore basement. Instead she stayed adamant in defending her little sociopath, Maybe it was time for her to leave Mystic Falls behind and move onto bigger and better things. She was over being her friend's sacrifice and though she still loved them dearly, she needed a fresh start.

'I spent months in that Hell,' She continued. 'I want to _live _now, I want to go out and do things with my life. Things that don't include being vampire food, or bait.' She turned to Elena. 'I didn't judge you and Damon, even though he's murdered way more than Kai and is a complete dickhead.' Moving her attention to Caroline now, she added, 'Same with you and Klaus.'

Turning her back on both of them, she grabbed a suitcase out from under the bed and flung it open before striding over to the closet to fetch her clothes. She could see her friends exchanging nervous looks out the corner of her eye, but she didn't care. For once, it wasn't about them or what they wanted. It was _finally _about her.

'I leave tomorrow morning.' She said, zipping the case up and dragging it towards the door. 'If you want to say goodbye, I'll be in the hotel on the edge of town.'

Tugging the door open, she stepped out into the hallway and called over her shoulder, a slight smile in her voice. 'With Kai.'


End file.
